Simarc Property Management Limited - www.simarc.co.uk

In a cost of living crisis how can anyone justify £180 for sending an email ? While I accept there should be penalties for late payments, this is ridiculous. I doubt very much that the directors of this company are wondering how they’re going to afford Winter fuel bills. Unbelievable.

over charge £84 for a missed £30 payment

This company needs to be taken to the tribunal.

The amount of “variable” administration fees they charge to leaseholder, charges that are not capped, it’s absolutely unbelievable.

It makes me angry, how there is no cap of what they charge, and basically leaseholders are extorted of money and there is nothing legally stopping these companies.

The law says these charges need to be reasonable, but that’s where the law stops. So leaseholders go ahead and charge what they want .

People need to unite and take this company to tribunal and stop the extortion!

There is no way to select someone other than Simarc. Just be aware how they operate.

They make money by hoping you miss a payment. They provide the minimum notice of ground rent (i.e. one invoice, by email, well in advance). If you defer payment, or then forget, they will, as they publish, add an excessive admin fee to send you a 2nd invoice which will be double.

Nothing illegal in this. Its just their modus operandi and they prey on people not being organised or trying to manage their cash flow.

If they provide Managed Services for you? Maybe you can kick them out and switch to another provider - up to you.

Or, just set up a Direct Debit. Ground rents are gnerally small amounts, and so it is not worth getting fined for missing it.

Just hate this company. Still

After their request for a huge "registration fee" and repeat annual payments for their records, I have asked for clarification as to what authority they have for requesting the payments. After asking four times for this, they have sent details of a clause in my lease which appears to only cover legal transfers of the property and does not cover my position of letting out my flat on an annual Assured Shorthold Tenancy. They have also misquoted the lease, saying it permits them to charge not less than £330.00 plus VAT for the service, when it actually says £30 plus VAT. No doubt they will dismiss this as a typo.

Feel really desperate as to where to turn.

No advice about clauses in the lease was offered by my solicitor when I bought the flat or I might have reconsidered the purchase.

Advice please, Simarc became our Freeholders managing Company last year. They will only email me as I am non-resident. That said they now want £138 Registration Fee with an additional £90 (which I am not sure if thats for each renewal with existing tenant or if new tenant)

I have owned the property for 4 years and never had this requested before.

Contacted them by phone and email asking what I thought were reasonable requests, costs breakdown, explanation of frequency. Received a curt reply basically pay.

My other concern is why do I have to supply my Tenancy Agreement, surely that is a breach of privacy between me and my tenant? Perhaps I should charge them for my correspondence!

Anyone know where I can find "Reasonable Costs" guidelines? Thanks

Our request to purchase the freehold of 8 Chestnut Avenue, Whickham, was dealt with in a very efficient manner.

The instructions on how to register transfer of leasehold were clear and fairly easy to understand.

To anybody thinking of buying a leasehold property, find out who the managing company is first. If it is Simarc, I would highly recommend you avoid them.

One of the biggest issues in the UK is the management of leasehold properties and this company explifies that.

You will be charged extorniate fees without them voluntarily providing proof of payment, receipts, statements, etc. Also they will not give over their bank details to make it easy to pay them.

Every year I have to pay £90 for underletting a flat that I own, for which this company has done nothing other than send out a letter demanding payment. For doing what?

Don't trust them, avoid at all costs!

Simarc is the worst company I have ever had to deal with when owning a property. They will purposely fabricate things to enforce high charges on you.

I had been contacting them since December to find out what I was to pay for a property I had just purchased and they made it extremely difficult refusing to take payment or telling me they didn’t know the property and making up other excuses. After a few months of me chasing them to make a payment I get hold a lady who I am assuming is the manager and she tells me that they had sent me a bill in March for the ground rent that was £135 and then 10 days later had sent a chasing later and she then told me I owed £269 for the late payment.

Even with me chasing them months before on several occasions. I also had not received either of these letters she insisted they had sent, I then noticed the address had been written wrong hence why I hadn’t received them but of course they wouldn’t take blame and insisted the letter still would of gotten to me and said I had to pay the full charge.

I appealed this with them and sent the money for the ground rent only via cheque and received a letter back telling me they refuse to take the payment for the ground rent which was due January 1st even though the manager had told me via email that they sent their first letter to me in March. They still are insisting I pay the ridiculous late charges.

The staff are rude and impossible to deal with and I want to warn other people using them to be aware of their actions and to not pay any extra money that they are trying to get out of you.

Absolutely disgusting company with no morals and should be ashamed of themselves.

This firm is a direputable. I have £150 ground rent fee to pay to cover 2 years to cover this year as well and they are trying to charge me £400 + for charges despite them not updating their records with me new address and not receiving any demands for them. I tried to call the company to pay the actual ground rent but they would not allow it unless i pay the charges. I then logged on to website and again you have no choice to make a variable payment. When i emailed them with the new address, and request for the charges to be removed the Head of Leasehold services sent me a letter back. He said he had not received any correspondence, clearly not the case since he sent it to my new address and added further charges to the account. Why is some government official not intervening as this is unethical. They refuse to BACS so the only way is to send a cheque to make payment for the ground rent, and i will write a lengthy letter and make it recorded to the attention of the Head of Leasehold. The Psychopath.