Buying and selling a home

This page offers answers to frequently asked questions and information for buying or selling a property at Brockwell Gate.     Who deals with sales on behalf of Brockwell Gate Management Company Limited (BGMCL)? Sales of properties at Brockwell Gate are handled by Wellers Law Group LLP. If you are selling, please instruct your solicitor to contact Wellers Law Group for a Sales Pack (available for a fee) which includes standard responses to questions asked by buyers, and a statement of your Service Charge account. Please note that Service Charges are due in full on the 1st January each year. Therefore, you should ensure you settle the current year's service charge and any outstanding charges from previous years in full before commencing the sales process. Please contact info@brockwellgate.com for advice regarding settling your service charge account. The contact details for Wellers are: Wellers Law Group LLP, Tenison House, Tweedy Road, Bromley, Kent, BR1 3NF Telephone: 020 8464 4242 Fax: 020 8464 6033 DX: 5713 Bromley Website: http://www.wellerslawgroup.com (opens in new window)     Who is the Freeholder for Brockwell Gate flats? The Freeholder is Pier Valley Limited. Their Agents are Estates and Management. Contact details for Estates and Management are: Estates & Management Limited, Molteno House, 302 Regents Park Road, London, N3 2JX Telephone: 020 8371 2800 Fax: 020 8371 2949 Website: www.e-m.uk.com (opens in new window)     Service Charge - due on 1st January each year The Service charge is payable to Brockwell Gate Management Company Limited under the terms of the lease or transfer. The charge is due to be paid in January.     Service Charge payment details Full payment instructions are sent out each year with the invoices. If you do have a question about service charge payment, please email info@brockwellgate.com     How is the Service Charge calculated ? The service charge is an estimate of the costs for the following year and as such cannot be exact. There are two elements to the service charge, re-current expenditure and planned maintenance funds. Re-current expenditure is expenditure on those items which reoccur each year. Any difference from year to year is based on known or anticipated changes in expenditure due to inflation or market conditions. Planned maintenance funds are held to cover necessary maintenance expenditure. Funds are created to meet the expected expenditure over the maintenance cycle. The funds are amortised so that there is level charging over the maintenance cycle. Thus changes in the service charge from year to year would be expected to be due to changes in re-current expenditure. The exception will be when changing maintenance cycles or a significant under budgeting for maintenance expenditure.     Supplementary charges in arrears BGMCL has never had to issue a supplementary service charge. Because of our planned maintenance funds it is unlikely that we would ever be in a position where we would need to do so. There is not an item of unforeseen major expenditure which would not be covered by insurance. Lift replacement is not covered by any maintenance fund. Shareholders have voted against creation of such a fund. The expert advice we have is that the lifts should not need replacing before 2040.     Who do I pay Ground Rent to ? Ground rent is payable to the Freeholder's agent, Estates and Management, due 1st January each year. The Freeholder's agent sends out invoices at the end of the year ready for the start of the next calendar year. The amount of the charge varies according to the size of the flat leased.     How do I obtain a receipt for Ground Rent payments? Please visit Estates and Management's dedicated webpage for advice here.     Car Parking and parking spaces for visitors All house owners and the majority of flat owners have one designated parking space. There are 30 flats, which do not have designated parking spaces. Parking spaces are designated by a 3 digit number. Those without a designated parking space and visitors are able to park in the free parking spaces up to a period of 24 hours. These are those estate roads and road spaces which do not have a red line or are not designated parking space. A stay of more than 24 hours in visitors'  (e.g. national holidays) must be put in writing, with relevant vehicle information, to BGMCL.     Administrative charge for breaching covenants Where there is a breach of any covenant, the board will in the first instance attempt to deal with the matter informally. If the matter is not resolved, or the transgression is repeated ,the board will contact the shareholder formally. If a formal letter is sent there will be a £25 fee for the first letter, £50 for any second or further letters from BGMCL. The matter may be refered to BGMCL's solicitors. Any further letter from BGMCL's solicitors will be charged at the Solicitors' current rate at the time of the letter. Such charge will be added to the service charge. Properties cannot be sold whilst a covenant is breached or a charge not settled.     Planned Major Works There are no planned major works which are not part of the planned maintenance cycle.     "For Sale" or "To Let" signs "For Sale" or "To Let" boards are not permitted on the railings or on communal areas. If signs are erected, the Board will removal and dispose of them. The cost of removal is £50.00. This will be charged to the Service Charge account of the property for sale.     Buildings insurance and terrorism insurance for flats If you own a flat, please click here to view the terms and conditions of the buildings insurance, paid on your behalf by the Company. Sometimes this is refered to as block insurance.