Estate Charges
How and why
Manvers Lake & Dearne Valley Trust Ltd is a registered charity and not for profit organisation (Registered Charity No. 1150159). The Trust was formed in 2011 to look after Manvers Lake and the surrounding area, including managing the Boathouse and its facilities. We currently have 3 subsidiary businesses, Manvers Waterfront Boat Club Ltd which is a multi sports club, Manvers Lake & Dearne Valley Trading Ltd who carry out much of our maintenance works, and Manvers Lake & Dearne Valley Events Ltd who organise large sporting events.
The waterfront development at the south side of the lake adjacent to Manvers Way was developed by Express Parks, who became TCN Ltd. The freehold of the whole site is held by Manvers Lake Trust and Avon Ground Rents Ltd. The plan below shows the freeholds, with Manvers Lake Trust in Green and Avon Ground Rents Ltd in Yellow.
Rotherham MBC would not agree to adopt and therefore maintain the country park to the south of the lake; therefore the costs would have to be met by the businesses and residents occupying the future development. Each of the businesses and housing developer has a lease containing a plan showing the parkland area to be maintained and the terms of the Estates Charge and what it covers.
The area outlined by the heavy line on the plan below is the area maintained by the Estates Charge.
Some residents may not have been passed this information when purchasing their property. Copies of the leases are provided below for information.
The waterfront development at the south side of the lake adjacent to Manvers Way was developed by Express Parks, who became TCN Ltd. The freehold of the whole site is held by Manvers Lake Trust and Avon Ground Rents Ltd. The plan below shows the freeholds, with Manvers Lake Trust in Green and Avon Ground Rents Ltd in Yellow.
When TCN had completed the development of the site and wanted to dispose of the head lease it was acquired in December 2015 by Manvers Lake & Dearne Valley Trust Ltd. This means that the Trust has to maintain the parkland in accordance with the lease terms. It also has to budget for the maintenance, invoice the businesses each quarter and produce audited accounts each year to show where the money was spent.
There is provision in the head lease to cover unexpected problems such as if a bridge was vandalised and needed immediate replacement, this can be charged to the Business Tenants as a one off charge. We aim to avoid this by building up a “sinking fund” with a small contribution from all each year as part of the Estates Charge to cover the one off events.
The Trust only maintains areas of the estate that have not been leased to others. We maintain the two car parks which have our signage, much of the grass verge along Manvers Way, the lakeside to the south of the lake from the old Garden Centre to the housing development and the paths and embankments from the western end of the lake to the Old Moor Roundabout. Maintenance of the developments within the estate falls on the individual Landlords and their management companies. The plan below shows the areas maintained by the Trust under the Estates Charge (green) and the area maintained by Taylor Wimpy (yellow). The Trust has a wider responsibility to maintain other areas around the lake eg the boathouse site, but these are not funded by the Estates Charge.
The green on the plan below gives an indication of the areas maintained by the Trust and funded by the Estates Charge. This does not include the lake, boathouse site and the area to the northside.
Where the tenants of the Trust have sub tenants, generally in the housing developments, the Lease between the Landlord (housing developer) and the house occupier generally allows the Landlord to divide up the Estates Charge from the Trust and ask each house occupier to pay a proportion of this. They could also add in other charges for Insurance, invoicing fees, management etc which are not part of the Estates Charge from the Trust.
If any house occupier were to buy the freehold of the property, the Estates Charge would still be payable.
The Trust is happy to answer questions on the make up of the total Estates Charge Budget and Charges, and how this is applied to our direct tenants, but we cannot answer queries relating to sub tenants charges or how these are divided and applied. All sub tenant queries should be addressed to the business that issues the invoices to the sub tenant.
The Businesses which have residential sub tenants are:-
Copies of leases have been attached as information only, please check the land registry for copies relating to your property. We are aware some residents have not seen copies of these which contain details of the service charge.
The items that make up the Estates Charge can include but are not limited to:-
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Litter picking
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Emptying of waste bins around the lake
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Removal of waste from site
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Tree and shrub maintenance
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Path repairs and maintenance
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Pest Control
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Keeping Water Courses free from silt
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Bridge maintenance/replacement
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Grass cutting and strimming
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Fencing repairs and maintenance
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Maintenance of drainage ditches
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Equipment hire
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Signage provision and replacement
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Insurance costs
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Provision of site management to deal with queries etc
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Administration costs
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Legal costs
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Staff Training and PPE
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Accountancy Costs
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The Trust hold a meeting to which our direct tenants are invited, an update of the service charge expenditure is delivered and the proposed budget for the coming year is made available.
Our total budget for 2018, 2019 and 2020 was £72,750. The budget for 2021 is £76,550 excluding VAT (4% increase).
The budget increase is due to the following:
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The 2021 budget increase was necessary as the budget had been static for the past 3 years and costs have increased.
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The large increase in 2018 was necessary as the budget was found to be inadequate and doesn’t allow the necessary works to be completed.
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When the old budgets were set the housing development wasn’t complete and now with the developments being complete and fully occupied the footfall around the site has increased.
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The site landscaping was new when the old budgets were set and now the trees and shrubs require considerably more maintenance works.
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We have more waste to remove including fly tipping (domestic waste dumped on site).
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The amount of managerial time required has increased as the site has developed and matured.
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The volume of queries that require us to seek advice from our legal advisors has increased.
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Some of our costs incurred were not being allocated to the Estate.
Leasehold Plan of Residential Developments - Manvers
Estate Charges & Budgets
Freehold Purchase
We have received a number of requests from leaseholders to buy the freehold of their home and we have no objection in principle to this. However, leaseholders need to be aware that there is likely to be more than one leasehold interest in your property. Leaseholders should also be aware that after the purchase you would still be responsible for paying any Service Charge[s] to their current landlord and would have to pay an Estates Charge directly to the Trust to contribute to the maintenance of the wider area.
We strongly advise you before you commit to any course of action to seek the advice of an independent solicitor.
We do not want you to take any action that would make it harder for you to purchase your freehold or harder for us to collect the ongoing estate service charge, or allow any ongoing or future legal challenge to either your freehold purchase or the Service Charge as this would not be in the best interests of the area moving forward.
When purchasing your freehold the Trust would charge approximately 2% of your property value plus the trust's reasonable legal fees. Please email - info@manverslaketrust.co.uk the trust to express your interest in purchasing your freehold, this will be forwarded to our agents/solicitors. You will need to include your full names, address and your estimated property value and we will confirm the price.
It is our policy upon request to sell the individual freeholds to sitting residents. The trustees are not lawyers. Hence, we are reliant on others completing their work before we can seek to further your purchase. We frequently review progress, and Edge Property Management are managing the sale of the Trust's freeholds and we regularly review progress with them.
The Charity’s objectives are to maintain the lake and surrounding parkland in perpetuity for the people of Wath. As such we are a “Not for profit” organisation, but we do have an obligation to all to make the most of our assets and to manage the lake and surrounding park land to the standard expected.
To contact the trust please email info@manverslaketrust.co.uk I am afraid I cannot guarantee a speedy resolution.
Lake and Parkland Boundaries
The Trust's lake and parkland boundaries are made up of various walls, fences, styles and natural obstacles. Unofficial access, such as gates at the back of private houses or gardens, bridges, encroachment or other similar works are not permitted.
