"Absolute scandal"

Absolute scandal - I am forced to pay for maintenance of a site that hasn't yet been handed over by the builder. We have no road surfaces, no street lighting, no access to open public spaces and have never received any documentation of exactly what work has been carried out. Not quite true - we have a very vague list of things that they claim have been done but I don't know exactly what these mean or where they have been carried out because as I said, there are no spaces maintained at the moment. Everyone on the estate is in agreement, some bravely refusing to pay until they have answers. What am I paying for? What is everyone on this estate paying for? Add into the mix that we all get charged different prices for living in the same place with no explanation of why this is. We know this because we have a residents forum on which we all stay very closely in touch. What a joke, what a scandal - this must be stopped.

"Not told about their contract at any …"

My experiences in my review are not comparisons but genuine testimonial given neither the builder, FA or solicitor explained their presence during the move. I also feel my rights have been impeded by them censoring my review.

"Money for nothing!"

Have literally seen the contractors drive round the block and then off the estate without doing a thing! We are bound by covenants in our deeds to pay for this to happen and have no say in the matter. The price goes up without warning and for no reason. They charge you for monthly routine maintenance visits and then again for a monthly supervisor visit on top. Then there is a snagging visit to pay for. . . They're clearly raking it in (!!!!)...... .. Not sure who they send to do the inspection, but I would suggest that they need to perhaps re train . Apart from a hand full of mown lawns, I am yet to see any actual maintenance being performed so I am not sure where the money is being spent

"Charge whatever they like!"

Charge whatever they like. Buy land that you have to pay for to maintain. Poor service: charge for litter picking but just lawn mow over it. Can't sell your house if you withhold payment. Don't offer good value.

"Avoid private estates....."

Do not buy a house on a private development, you will be forced to hand over money to these people forever, with no way out.

Charges go up every year, while the standard of maintenance gets worse. In return for our annual payment, we get a play park that isn't fit for use, with tired and worn out play equipment, and a safety surface that is peeling away at the edges, leaving exposed concrete. The woodland areas are overgrown and full of litter. On a positive note, the grass does get cut about once a year.

"zero rating."

I would have given a zero rating if given the choice. If you are buying a freehold house on an estate with a ‘burden’ on the deeds for Greenbelt maintenance, DONT DO IT ! Find a freehold house somewhere else.
I have been paying Greenbelt a ‘service charge’ every year to cut the grass on land that they own, land I dont use, land I cant see, its akin to me mowing my lawn and then charging Fred down the road for the privilege. The service they provide is inadequate and overpriced, they even charged extra (on 299 houses) for removing a fridge someone had dumped. Another issue is the hold they have over you, if you hold payment for the bad service provided, not only are you threatened with court action but as a neighbour informed me he couldnt proceed with a sale because Greenbelt had refused ‘permission’ for the sale to go ahead until his arrears were paid. I also had to pay a fee to Greenbelt just to remortgage. This all seems totally unfair for a freehold property and had I known the extent of Greenbelts influence on the deeds then I would not have bought in the first instance.

"Would have been a zero rating if it had …"

Would have been a zero rating if it had been possible.

An utter waste of space. I've seen gardeners undertaking work on the tiny piece of landscaping opposite my home on only one occasion in the two years since I purchased my property - yet I'm being charged £163.65 per year for the privilege!! I think I might just refuse to pay.......

"Cost of maintenance is far overpriced …"

Cost of maintenance is far overpriced for the small amount of land actually being looked after. On our estate we are paying £120 per household a year for a small green area around the estate. Then the main grassed area that children play on is then having to be cut by locals. The increase in maintenance payments increases at a tremendous rate year on year and there is absolutely nothing homeowners can do about it! This was not made clear when purchasing my house and I do not understand how one company can be the sole land manager and why homeowners can not change that provider if dissatisfied. Greenbelt send out false advertisements of green areas they look after that look nothing like the area near my house that they look after. They appear to send local contractors to manage the area then place on the bill that it has cost them thousands for someone from greenbelt to 'assess' the area before basically cutting the grass. The maintenance bill that they send is frankly a fabricated joke. The government need to do something about this as like a lady had correctly already stated they have the monopoly. We are stuck, despite not wanting them as a company to manage our land but they can just do as they wish, charge what they like and do very little for it. New homeowners definitely need to be aware of this!

"This company are awful"

This company are awful. They have a monopoly on estates throughout the country and residents have no choice in who to employ to do the work. This policy by builders to sell off land to maintenance companies needs to be addressed by the Govt. Customers should have a choice when it comes to who they want to pay for services on their estate, in fact local council's should provide the same services for private estates as they do for council estates after all we are paying council tax for it.

so the response from Greenbelt is -TrustScore 1.0 / 10
85 Reviews
Reply from Greenbelt Group
Published 4 minutes ago
Hi Alison, while we provide a high quality service for around 52,000 households on more
than 550 developments, making Greenbelt a leading UK land management company, it is wholly inaccurate to say we have a 'monopoly'. If you would like to discuss this in more detail with our Customer Care team, they would be very happy to help and can be contacted by phoning 0800 028 1749 or by emailing Many thanks.

You may have 550 developments and you may have 52k households that you are holding hostage to fortune on. Perhaps you could carry out a survey of all of those household and find out just how many are content with your services and how many would prefer to engage the services of a company of their own choosing. It is a monopoly when people have no choice about who provides a service and how much they are charged. Of course a survey of your customers would support your claims about a quality service if they agree. feel free to do this and publish the responses I will withdraw my comments if you can provide evidence your customers are happy and that we have a choice about who provides a service that you charge for.

"Less than ZERO star rating"

Shambles of a company we are bound to their ever rising charges for appalling service. You have no choice in who maintains this land as they have written a burden into your title deeds. In my experience only ever show up couple of weeks prior to the next demand letter being sent out. They purchase all the leftover areas of your estate & then charge you to maintain their land! When ask for breakdown of cost, receive the standard fob off. If you calculate the number of houses with in the estate & the amount paid, the cost is horrendous. The bill is full of charges for supervisor visits & inspections. The service is appalling; weeds have grown as high as the 6ft fence. This land is accessible to general public, but you pay to maintain their land. Avoid at all cost. This company will devalue your property. Government need to step in to stop this exploitation.