A group of residents have complained their communal gardens are not being looked after by a management company – as the fees rise by 26 per cent.

The issue has been raised on behalf of residents living in Pentillie Road, Bere Alston with their MP and parish councillors.

The arrangement has been slammed as ‘fleecehold’ because residents are paying for maintenance of land they do not even own and have no say in the charges.

Greenbelt Group, which manages the communal garden at Pentillie Road, has increased the annual maintenance fee for residents of the 42 homes by 26 per cent from £501.57 to £632.46 – even though residents say gates and fences are not being painted or cleaned of rust and weeding is insufficient. Car parking spaces and street lamps are included in the maintenance contract.

Residents question if the money would be better spent on employing a gardener directly.

The estate is managed by a trust – which hired Greenbelt to provide maintenance of the communal areas – with homes either owned, part-owned or rented.

One woman has raised the issue with Greenbelt on behalf of her mother who lives on Pentillie Road.

Katie McCarthy said: “This increase is not only well above inflation and pension adjustments, but also contradicts Greenbelt’s public claim that their fees rise by an average of less than three per cent annually.

“There is a visible lack of upkeep in the area, with overgrown weeds, a rusted park gate, blocked gullies, and parking spaces needing repainting.

“What makes this more frustrating is that residents do not own the communal land yet are contractually obligated to pay for its upkeep. There is no choice of provider and no regulation or oversight.”

She has asked Greenbelt for a breakdown of work done over the past 12 months and a substantial reduction in fees.

A Greenbelt spokesman said the company was not responsible for the roads, pavements and gullies. However, its duties include street lights, dog mess and fly-tipping clearance, pest control, bin emptying and path, gate, bench and fence maintenance and repairs.

The company defended its recent fee hike, saying: ‘Soaring energy bills are a major factor in current high inflation and the impact is, unfortunately, impacting on this development. While utility price hikes remain outside our control, we continue to manage other costs tightly. For example, replacing a bench and repairing a post recently cost £15.95 per resident.

“It’s important to note we do not apply automatic inflation-based increases; any adjustment is based solely on actual costs. Across the UK we work hard with our suppliers to keep any necessary increases to three per cent, despite the additional NI and minimum wage burdens impacting all employers from April this year.

“Residents receive full cost breakdowns and our average charges remain among the lowest in the UK.”

It added: “We value open communication, and for this development there has been a total of two inquiries, with our customer care team addressing questions raised.”

The company added that “customers retain the right to change their provider by majority vote”.