I’ve inherited my mum’s flat and can’t sell it. We owe £30,000 service charges

When Cathy Redman’s mum, Josephine Moran, suffered a fall and broke her hip, her concerned family knew she needed to live somewhere where they knew she would be safer.

The mum-of-four and grandmother-of-five ended up buying an independent living flat in Slough with the option of upgrading to extra care. As time went on and her needs escalated, Josephine’s family took that up and were happy with the care she received.

In fact, the family were extremely happy with Josephine’s living arrangements and care until her death at the age of 89 in February 2023. Then, they inherited a flat that is proving difficult to sell and is costing them money every month in service charges and bills.

The service charges on the flat are almost £800 a month and the family have now incurred debts of around £30,000, which they will pay from the sale of the property. Each month, they also have to fork out for council tax and electricity standing charges.

But despite cutting the asking price to well under what her mum paid for the flat when she bought it in 2018, Cathy told The i Paper they have barely had any viewers and potential buyers are deterred by the service charges.

“We have financially inherited this problem and it is a total nightmare,” said Cathy, 67, who lives in Oxfordshire with husband Mark and is a mum-of-three.

“It is so mentally exhausting and depressing. I have days when I think I would rather send them back the keys because you get to the point where you feel you can’t fight anymore.

“It is such an emotional thing as well because you have no closure. We are having to go back every now and again to read the meters. Having to walk back into the place where your mum lived and died is awful and it means you can’t get over her death.”

Cathy explained that her mum, Josephine, had been living in a small bungalow by herself after being widowed 15 years earlier, but after she suffered a few falls and broke her hip, her family looked for an alternative option. They decided on an independent living flat with the option of extra care.

Independent living extra care, also known as assisted living, is a housing option that allows older adults or those with complex care needs to maintain a private, independent lifestyle in their own self-contained home while having 24/7 on-site access to personalised care and support services if they need them.

“It was and is a beautiful apartment. My mum had her own little flat with a lot of her own stuff, rather than moving into a care home where you get a room with a wardrobe and that’s about it,” she said.

She added: “My mum was very happy living there and the staff were lovely and she was well looked after. We, as a family, were happy as we knew she was safe.

“We had no problems whatsoever with the care she received or the standard of accommodation as it was all great.”

Cathy says the then £350 a month service charges were reasonable when her mum moved in.

After her mum’s death in 2023, the family put the property up for sale, but after around six months, alarm bells rang as they had very little interest. Since then, they have reduced the price a few times, but are still struggling to sell it.

“By this stage, the service charge had crept up and although Anchor, who run the development, have said we can pay them after we have sold the flat, the debt is mounting up.

“We have also paid around £5,000 in council tax since my mum died and are paying around £35 a month in electricity standing charges. All for a flat that is sitting there empty.”

When Josephine bought the flat in 2018, she paid £145,000 for it. Her family initially put it on sale in 2023 for £140,000, then reduced it to £120,000 and have now slashed it to £99,000 – but still have not been able to sell it.

“Since January, when we put the price down to under £100,000, we have not had a single viewer,” said Cathy.

“It is not the price of the property that is putting people off, it is the service charge and the estate agent has told us this.

“There are now estate agents in the area who won’t even take on these flats because they know they can’t sell them.”

Cathy believes the whole model of these retirement properties is broken as even though they seem the perfect solution for older people, too many are being built all over the country as the Government is giving grants to build the developments.

And she says they are more difficult to sell as they can usually only be bought by people over the age of 60, often have high service charges and there are usually many restrictions.

“They are not looking at what happens to these homes afterwards,” she said.

She added: “There is no incentive for these companies to buy these properties back if they can get the services charges while they are empty anyway.

“You are not allowed to sublet the flat, even if it is sitting there empty. So we are effectively paying service charges for nothing because we can’t sell it.”

Cathy added: “My mum would be devastated if she were to think she had left us with this problem. She would be turning in her grave as it is so unjust.

“You are constantly wondering what is going to happen and it has caused a lot of sleepless nights. What if we can’t ever sell it and end up owing them money?”

Sue Phillips, founder of Shared Ownership Resources, which champions the interests of shared owners, said: “Trying and failing to sell an inherited Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) home places financial and emotional strain on bereaved families.

“Housing providers should be required to buy back retirement homes if they haven’t sold on the open market, say, after 12 months.

“OPSO Extra Care providers are better positioned to find eligible buyers than the relatives who inherit retirement homes.

“Or providers could simply let the flat to an older person in need of care and support services – something that restrictive leases often prevent OPSO owners, or their executors, from doing.”

An Anchor spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the challenges Ms Redman has experienced selling her mother’s home.

“We continue to support leaseholders, sellers, and their families by ensuring transparency in the sales process, providing clear and timely information to prospective buyers and solicitors, and offering support to actively promote properties through targeted marketing channels while maintaining our role as landlord rather than agent.

“Service charges are direct costs paid by residents and do not generate a surplus for Anchor. Service charges also include some utility costs, such as communal electricity, meaning households don’t have separate bills to pay for this.

“Service charges have increased in recent years due to rising insurance premiums, inflation, and broader economic factors. This trend is affecting the entire housing sector.

“When signing a lease, as is usual for most leasehold properties, it is clear that service charges are payable until a property is sold. All fees are explained prior to purchase and are detailed during the conveyancing process and within the lease agreement.”

The spokesperson said that a decision had been made not to pursue outstanding service charges on properties for sale at the development and that this approach would remain in place until the properties are sold.

He added that as a not-for-profit organisation, they do not operate an overarching buy-back policy. However, they said they recently met with sellers and their families to explore how best to support them.