Brooklands is a private deed-restricted development, so whether you rent a flat or own your freehold, all residents on Brooklands must pay a twice-yearly service charge for maintaining the communal open spaces. The council do not maintain these areas for us. Property owners should be aware that the Service Charge is separate account to that of Ground Rent. Even if you have purchased your freehold, you remain liable for the service charge but will no longer have to pay ground rent.
Brooklands Property Management
The Brooklands estate is restricted by way of a private covenant or Deed of Lease that was established by the developer, Miller Homes, in order to gain planning permission from WLDC.
In July 2022, the developer Miller Homes resigned all interest in Brooklands. This followed on from a registered title transfer on 3 May 2022 of the Brooklands shared land spaces to our company: Brooklands (Gainsborough) Management Company Limited. Each registered landowner on Brooklands has one voting member share of this company.
At a general meeting held 21 June 2022, the shareholders elected two resident directors to represent them, and the appointments were duly registered at companies house on 14 July 2022. The role of director brings with it serious responsibilities. The first undertaken was a review of the previous six years' spending - including the value provided by our site contractors.
This review highlighted overspending and unsatisfactory service delivery. Your directors interviewed alternative local contractors and new property management providers, serving a termination notice on RMG and bringing to a close their 12 year management of Brooklands on 31 December 2022.
From January 2023 your directors engaged Inspired Property Management (IPM) of Doncaster, to manage our shared areas and three apartment blocks.
There are 243 dwellings on Brooklands, 31 with direct access off Foxby Lane and the remaining 212 with a single access point off Park Springs Road via Pilgrims Approach.
Approximately 80% of the dwellings are privately owned and managed by IPM, including the shared open spaces and playground area.
The remaining 20% of dwellings are managed by the housing association Places for People previously known as Derwent Living.
There are three apartment blocks of 6 flats managed by Inspired [IPM] and a further 3 blocks of 6 flats managed by ‘Places for People’.
Charlotte Rhodes is our IPM property manager. You can contact Charlotte by email or call IPM's 24 hour customer service number 01302 729500 in an emergency or email Area1@ipm.uk
Owning your Freehold
Home owners who are considering buying their freehold should be aware that they can never fully escape the original covenants registered against their property's title. Where a freehold property is subject to the payment of a service charge, additional procedures (which usually come with more cost) must be followed whenever the property changes hands, which can be a cause of irritation to both seller and buyer. The buyer will almost certainly be required to sign a deed of covenant which is in effect a contract by which they promise to pay the service charge in the future. You can read more about this topic in our post "What you should know about our deed of lease".
Service Charge
The Brooklands service charge is budgeted annually. Towards the end of each year our Managing Agent invites all residents and owners to an annual general meeting [AGM] to present the expenditure for the previous year and to give valid reasons for any planned increases for the year ahead. At that meeting, residents have the opportunity to question any budget forecast decisions made and we encourage everyone to come along. There is no planned cost uplift for service charges or reserve funds for 2023.
The service charge covers:
Contract Maintenance: gardening, tidying of 3 green spaces, play area, CCTV
General Repairs & Maintenance: playground equipment H&S, flood drainage, etc.
Insurance; public liability & terrorism.
Administration: management, accountancy & audit costs, media, copying and postage, resident meetings.
Reserve Fund extraordinary and future budgeted expenses: grit bins, repair and replace damaged trees and footpaths on the green spaces, replacement playground equipment, non-billable clean-up/rubbish collection.
Residents within each of the apartment blocks pay additional charges for Insurance and Facilities management; the door entry system, communal area heating & cleaning, window cleaning, electrical & drain repairs, bin stores, TV/satellite, fire alarm/smoke ventilation, annual Health & Safety inspection and a separate reserve fund to cover redecoration of the communal areas.
Register with IPM online or via the App.
The majority of the information you may need to know about your Brooklands home can be found by creating an IPM account or by downloading and installing the IPM App. To set up an account you only need the property address and the 12 digit customer reference number found on your Service Charge invoice.
IPM's online portal system is available to both residents and landlords at any time. Account holders can access key information regarding their account and development including:
Online Chat Facility
Raise a Facilities Issue
Announcements and letters
Account Balances and Statements
Useful Documents (e.g. fire safety advice)
Payment Options
Update Contact Details
Update Correspondence Address
To save costs and support the environment we ask all property owners signup to receive invoices and correspondence in an electronic format.
To sign up to IPM’s Paperless Service, click here. You can also sign up through your IPM account.
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