In the spring I received an email from Sue Robertson, following an investigation I carried out into the overcharging of leaseholders. The email was among about 200 I was sent by homeowners who told me they were having issues with their service charges.
Sue described how soaring charges and legal threats were affecting her finances and health. I replied and a few days later heard from her neighbour, who told me Sue was in hospital having tried to take her own life. After she had recovered, I went to meet her.
At Sue’s one-bedroom ground-floor flat in Worthing, West Sussex, she explained to me that it had once been her “sanctuary” but was now causing her severe anxiety.
In 2019, she was paying about £750 a year in service charges. Sue thought the fee was about right for her flat, which is one of two in a small converted house and has little shared space to maintain.
But that year, the freehold to her property was sold at auction to a north London firm called Assethold. She says its sister company, Eagerstates, took over the management, after which her service charge more than doubled. By 2023, her bill was £3,198 – an increase of 320% in four years.
“I dread the post,” she told me.
“Every time we get a new bill, it’s got something different on it. I think they’re just charging us money for nothing.”
