Grumpy David wrote:Grumpy David wrote:<]:^D wrote:how much can management companies increase service charges by?
L&Q just sent through the price rise for 2024 (Apr) 30% increase
with no explanation as to why
Different freeholder for me but last year mine went up by 22%.
Dreading the letter confirming 24-25 service charges, I already pay £165 a month.
Got the letter today, just under a 25% increase.
New monthly payment of £205.86.
Any NICs reduction from April will be consumed by that 1 rising bill alone.
The freeholder is a not-for-profit organisation too. Not that it sounds believable given that I was paying £97 per month back in 2017.
Similar scenario. I get some birthday money for turning 35. Of course, I am grateful and everything helps. A £ is a £.
Now, I don't know what people do with their money. Maybe they travel, or buy nice things. It gets a bit miserable once you drill into the impact of virtually any reasonable some of money during a fiscal crisis and a recession. It'll cover my electricity bill for a few months. Or three quarters of a month's rent. Hooray! I realise a lot of people are worse off and don't get cash gifts, but I was hoping to maybe invest a little in my life (i.e. gooseberry fool I actually want to do), maybe some musical equipment (I can justify that, having practised guitar for 28 years), rather than just exist without being below freezing in winter. Depending on how I attribute income, instead it is mostly spent on "compensating" someone who is likely to be much richer, if not literal billionaires.
Any kind of "windfalls", return on savings, investments, gifts, below inflation pay rises (NI reduction, minimal wage increase), whatever, depending on where you are in the socioeconomic make-up (I perhaps need to point out I receive virtually none of these things, and if at all, very sparsely), barely make a dent in essential utilities or other rising costs of living.
Can feel 10x worse that you're somehow ungrateful this "boon" is not enough (I'm not, I'm never like that), as if it's somehow every individual citizen's fault that gooseberry fool is so expensive. It is not. It's nothing to do with grace or graciousness or gratitude, it feels shitty that "ups" have less of an impact than they should have, because almost everything is going "down".