Swindled in the name of service charge
Panoramic view of the newly constructed Civil Servants Houses at Ngara, Nairobi on October 17, 2012. Depending on how the running of gated communities is done can either make a dream come true or create regrets into buying into the idea. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
What you need to know:
- Four months down the line, the water to the estate was disconnected and that’s when all hell broke loose. The selling agent was owed in sales commission by the developer and was thus pocketing the water bill, and their service charge as payment.
- The management committee met and increased the service charge from the Sh1500 to Sh3000 with the justification that we needed better services for the estate as compared to what the selling agent was offering.
In 2010, Pauline Onyango moved to her new apartment along Mombasa road.
It was after she had secured a mortgage for the two bedroom apartment. This was her dream of owning a house within a gated community. The estate had a school, a gym, ample parking and a shopping area.
“The developer informed us that the selling agent would be managing the property for the mean time and we were required to pay a monthly service charge fee of Sh1,500. We didn’t have a problem with that. Four months down the line, the water to the estate was disconnected and that’s when all hell broke loose,” she said.
According to Pauline, the selling agent who was charged with managing the water bill to was not remitting the same to the water service company.
This was because, the selling agent was owed in sales commission by the developer and was thus pocketing the water bill, and their service charge as payment.
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“As residents, we found this wanting and kicked the selling agent out altogether. We formed our own management committee to run the estate thinking that things will be now okay. That was never to be,” she shares.
The management committee met and increased the service charge from the Sh1500 to Sh3000 with the justification that we needed better services for the estate as compared to what the selling agent was offering.
“We obliged to pay that but to be sincere the services were never improving. The estate decided to employ its own guards as opposed to outsourcing. The cleaning services also were not outsourced and looking at the more than 400 houses within this estate, this has become a perfect business venture,” Pauline says.
“Late last year, we were informed that the water bills will be going up because we are now zoned as commercial users. We have tried asking for audited accounts but this has been unfruitful. Currently home owners don’t see eye to eye with the management committee who are now running the estate like they own it yet we all bought into it.”
Pauline’s dilemma is replicated across many neighbourhoods where, depending on how the running of gated communities is done can either make a dream come true or create regrets into buying into the idea.
