Service Charge Demands for the period 1st July-31st December 2019 have now been raised. Notifications for privately owned properties were sent directly to residents week commencing 7th October however tenants of both Colne Housing and CHP will receive notifications via those organisations respectively. As such there will be a short delay before tenants have confirmation of the updated charges that form part of their tenancy agreements.
As previously advised there has been an increase in the Service Charge, primarily to reflect the fact that the previous Grounds Maintenance budget for RMC responsible land was not set at the right level to comply with strict on-going planning conditions. The value for Grounds Maintenance still remains a best estimate and will be confirmed over the next few months once a procurement exercise for this element of service has been undertaken by POD Management on behalf of the RMC. The procurement will facilitate delivery of the detailed Service Specification that was produced jointly by Bellway, the RMC & the CRCG earlier in the year to ensure that planning conditions could be satisfied.
It is important to note that the Service Charge Budget currently includes a value for site-wide costs at the same level as that notified in 2018/19. We believe that there should be a credit due for 2018/19 and indeed that the costs for 2019/20 should be lower on the basis many of the open spaces are not yet available for residents to access. However until the on-going detailed investigation into site-wide costs has been completed, it is considered prudent to provide for the same level of budget.
Notwithstanding the above position, and due to the on-going concerns about transparency in relation to site-wide costs, POD have been instructed not to make any payment until the aforementioned investigation has been concluded.
The summary schedule of costs and letter that has been sent to residents of privately owned properties can be viewed from the Service Charges Page.
Andrew Wright, Interim Director
Channels (Chelmsford) Management Company Ltd
Channels Community 