Frequently Asked Questions

As the managing agent, we issue the requests for the service charge or estate charge to you on behalf of those that have responsibility for the upkeep of the communal parts (generally the freeholder or the resident management company).

The payments are paid to a service charge trust fund which is a ring-fenced fund, quite separate from Bellharbour, set up to pay the contractors and bills for your apartment building or private estate.

To register for the online portal, please contact us to check we have your current email address on record and letting us know that you would like to register. You will then receive an email with more details.

When selling your property that is managed by us, you will need to provide the purchaser with documentation, commonly called a management pack, which includes information on items like service charge account and budgets. We will also need to ensure that your service charge account is up to date. If you are selling your property, please contact our Admin Team on welcome@bellharbour.co.uk 

Any conditions or restrictions on subletting your property will be included in your lease of title/deeds. In addition, you will need to contact us for permission to sublet your property and to let us know who your tenants will be. More details about subletting can be found HERE.

Many leases do not permit keeping personal items in the common areas and the main reason is for fire safety. Personal items can create a fire hazard and also cause an obstruction in the event of a fire, making it more difficult for the rescue services to access the building or for residents to leave the building (if your building has an evacuation policy).

In addition, leaving personal items in the common areas can invalidate the insurance policy for your building, meaning the cost of repair or reconstruction may not be met by the insurer in the event of a claim.

When a new housing estate is built, the developer will contact the local council asking them if they will take on responsibility for the shared areas of the estate. If the council declines the offer, then the developer will appoint a managing agent to manage these areas. The services covered by the estate charge you pay will be detailed in your deeds and could include:

• Maintenance of roads not adopted by the local council
• Lighting of paths and roads
• Gardening and cleaning of common areas
• Company secretarial services to your residents’ management company

Many developments are released or sold in phases, so people will be living on the estate while construction is still underway. This can mean that some of the roads and common areas are not being maintained to the desired standard, as construction vehicles are still using those areas, or are still the responsibility of the developer. There will be areas that we are responsible for and we will be working hard to maintain these within the restrictions of the surrounding construction works. We may also be providing company secretarial support to your residents’ management company (if you have one) behind the scenes.

The service charge budget is based on the full development with all properties contributing and your portion of the charge will be billed on this basis, no matter what areas have been built or handed over. Any unspent funds are credited back when the service charge accounts have been produced at the end of the year.

If you have any queries about what is covered by your service or estate charge, you can talk to your property manager for more details.

When individual properties complete, the solicitor will work out the service charge due from that property from the date of completion to the end of the financial year and collect this money on retention. This is then passed to Bellharbour when that part of the development is handed over to Bellharbour. If your neighbour completed on their property earlier in the year than you, they will be starting with a higher credit balance.