When I first started out in block management many moons ago
developments were a lot different to many managed today. The only shared facilities
that needed managing were the communal hallways, car parks and gardens.
However, today’s modern developments can consist of not just
mixed tenure properties but a wide array of communal facilities.
It is not uncommon to expect some sort of controlled parking;
gates, barriers or even underground car parking and residents are expected to
share fewer visitor parking spaces which can lead to parking problems on an
otherwise peaceful development.
Developers are now building developments which resemble
hotels with porters/concierges, lifts, gymnasiums and even swimming pools.
At first glance these types of properties do appeal to
buyers but when you look closer into the cost of maintaining such services it
is not surprising that soon the services that once appealed are scrapped to
save money. It was a novelty at the beginning to use the communal gymnasium or
collect your post from the porter/concierge but when residents realised they
were paying hundreds of pounds a year in service charges for such luxuries it isn’t
long before the gymnasium gets shut and another person joins the unemployment
line.
Any potential buyer should always consider before purchasing
a property what communal services are included on a development as they do come
at a cost and any developer should strongly consider if there is a market for
this type of development in the area?
No comments:
Post a Comment