Homeowners at a smart newbuild estate claim they unwittingly signed up to ‘fleecehold’ agreements after discovering ‘hidden’ service fees they believe will add hundreds of pounds in costs every year.

Residents at Wayland Fields, a Barratt Homes estate, say they were told annual service charges would be around £125 per annum to pay for cutting grass and trimming hedges around their properties.

But they have since learned they are liable for flood defences as well as community amenities, including a children’s play area and wetland areas surrounding ponds, which they fear will see charges soar to £500 or more.

They argue the financial blow is effectively a surcharge on their council tax as the local planning iauthority has refused to adopt the disputed facilities, despite them benefiting the wider community.

James Dann, 69, who bought a four-bedroom house on the estate in Watton, near Thetford in Norfolk, for £375,000 in December 2022 with his partner Alan Gibbons, 62, told the Mail: ‘We were initially told when we viewed the property that there would be an additional cost but it was only referred to as grass cutting and sorting out the hedgerows.

‘There was nothing mentioned about covering the costs for the attenuation ponds. They were put here to alleviate flood issues that have been here for years.

‘We’ve also been told we’re responsible for the children’s play area. Why are we having to pay for something that’s a public open space?

‘The equipment could be damaged and we’d have to pay for that. The costs may be low in the first five years but they could escalate if equipment needs replacing.

‘If we sell the property, there could be an issue [because of uncertainty over costs].’

The retired insurance broker added Wayland Fields residents were paying for the upkeep of ‘wetland meadows’ near ponds that homeowners from a neighbouring estate were using for free.

‘People come across the road from the Hopkins Homes development. A lot of people walk their dogs,’ he complained.

Another Wayland Fields homeowner, retired Brian Dingwall, claimed he was ‘misled’.

‘This term “fleecehold” comes with estates like this,’ he said.

‘What’s really going on is local councils are paying for the infrastructure maintenance via the collection of this money from managing agents, who are uncapped and uncontrolled.

‘We bought a freehold but we’re tied in like a leaseholder because of the areas that have not been adopted by the council.’

His wife, Helen, added: ‘We are paying the council tax and we will [also] pay this. They are doing it sneakily.’

There are 180 three and four-bedroom homes on the estate, with prices ranging between £287,995 and £399,995. Just eight remain to sell.

It is set in a green corner of England that has easy access to the north Norfolk coast that is popular with tourists and the shopping mecca of Norwich.

The desirable location has seen prices soar, with the three-bedroom former show house on the market for £400,000 – well up on the £287,000 it was originally snapped up for, according to residents.

But they said this doesn’t justify the eye-watering charges they face.

Similar levies are applied to other newbuild estates but these don’t come with the ‘open-ended’ financial risk associated with flood defences that protect other homes in the area and other community facilities.

Mr Dingwall added: ‘Our experience felt very much like discovering a ticking time bomb in terms of the pending uncapped and uncontrolled financial costs.’

The ‘hidden’ costs came to light when the estate management company prematurely attempted to apply the annual service charge, despite a promise this would not happen until the development was completed in August.

The bill was for £135 – but this applies to facilities that are new and haven’t accrued large maintenance or replacement costs yet.

Homeowner Samantha Brown shared the widespread fury. She said: ‘I don’t understand why I’m paying to maintain space that any member of the public can use.

‘If we had known about this, we would never have moved here.’

Neighbour Rick Bhullar added: ‘This arrangement benefits everyone except the people who live here.’

Another local, who asked not to be named, said: ‘We were told it was going to be £100 or something a year for grass cutting.

‘Now they’re saying it’s for other things. We haven’t even got it straight what we’re paying for.’

An activists’ organisation, called Wayland Fields Group, has complained to planning authority Breckland District Council demanding the situation is addressed and urged bosses at Barratt Homes to review the arrangement.

Dozens of MPs wrote to the then Tory government in early 2024 calling for an end to so-called ‘fleecehold’ agreements, under which people with freehold properties were being locked into contracts with private companies to maintain communal areas around them.

Conservative peer Lord Moylan, a former advisor to Boris Johnson when he was London mayor, described it at the time as ‘the next great scandal approaching the housing market’.

He added: ‘It is in very large measure attributable to councils who are simply resiling from taking on their duties.

‘They will accept the additional council tax that is generated by the new properties but they will not take on the responsibilities for maintaining those common amenities.’

Housing minister Baroness Scott of Bybrook replied that the Government was ‘carefully considering’ a report by the Competition and Markets Authority into problems faces on such unadopted newbuilt estates.

Breckland District Council said the management and maintenance of open spaces in Wayland Fields were approved in 2019.

It added: ‘The provisions in that approval set out that the site, including the flood attenuation areas, can be managed by a management company with residents of the properties contributing to costs of maintaining the open space. 

‘This is an established and accepted process nationally and one that should be covered by due diligence during the conveyancing stage of a resident’s house purchase.’

Jane Scarrott, clerk of Watton Town Council, said: ‘For some time, Watton Town Council has voiced a policy not to accept any open space land or other infrastructure from developers and thus newer estates in the town tend to be maintained by a management company. 

‘Some residents of Wayland Fields have attended a town council meeting a while back when they were informed of this.

‘It is becoming much more usual that local authorities are not adopting any infrastructure on housing estates and management companies, to which residents make a contribution, are maintaining open spaces etc.’

A Barratt Homes Anglia spokesman said local planning authorities were ‘always offered’ the option to adopt facilities at newbuild estates but ‘in this instance, the offer was refused, leaving a management company as the only alternative’.

They added: ‘We ensure residents are made aware of any service charges at the point of reservation, which covers the maintenance of the play area, public open space, general landscaping and the sustainable drainage system at Wayland Fields.

‘The drainage strategy was developed and agreed in consultation with Norfolk County Council, as is required through the planning process…

‘Once the development is complete later this year, residents will take over directorship of the estate management company giving them control over the ongoing maintenance and management of their community facilities.’

A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to bringing the injustice of “fleecehold” private estates and unfair costs to an end.

‘This year we will consult on the best way to achieve this and will include options to reduce the prevalence of private management of these estates – which are the root cause of the problems faced by homeowners.’