Locksmeade Owners Ltd

FACTS ABOUT THE COMPANY

The Company Setup

The company was set up by Frendale Homes back in the early 1980s to look after common areas on the development not privately owned or adopted by the council. The company owns no buildings of any sort, just driveways, shrubbed boarders and lawns and some boundary fences.  These areas are shown in red on the map here. 

How it works:

Each house on the development holds an equal share in the company, regardless of the size of the property and whether they are close to or use any company maintained land to gain access to their property on a regular basis.

From the start we (the residents) have always run the company ourselves, only using professional help to present accounts to the revenue and deal with share transfers.

The company, which is regulated as a non-profit company, is registered under the number 01573992.  Our registered address is: 18, Udney Park Road, Teddington, TW11 9BG. This is the address of our accountant Dr. Rafal Szymanski (raf.szyman@gmail.com) and he is your liason officer when buying or selling a house on the development. Rafal audits our accounts and presentes them annually to Companies House and HMRC in accordance with their rules and regulations. Accounts for the last 6 years available on this site: Recent Annual Accounts

Directors & Committee:

The company is run by two directors (both homeowners on the development) and a committee of unpaid residential volunteers (usually around 6 in number) who are confirmed in their post each year at the AGM. Separate officers include company secretary, financial controller and a gardens and common parts supervisor. The committee holds regular minuted meetings.

Annual Maintenance Charge:

The annual maintenance charge, which is our only source of revenue, is currently set at £185 with a £110 discount for prompt payment - that's, in reality, a charge of £75. It is levied in June (covering the calendar year) and is set democratically at the AGM in April. Historically, this charge was £60 in 1990,  £90 in 2006 and £75 in 2025. Our current income equals 88 houses × £75 = £6600 per annum. Most of the money the company receives is spent on company-owned garden and concrete areas, boundary fences and walls, public liability insurance, accounting fees, maintaining our reserves and other administration charges. Our bank balance is kept between £20,000 and £30,000 as a contingency fund for emergency repairs and unforeseen expenses. The committee is unpaid.

AGMs:

All residents are notified of a forthcoming AGM which is held locally, usually at the Ham Christian Centre in Lock Road starting at 8pm.  At the AGM, the accounts for the previous year are presented along with a budget for the following year. It is then the charge for the next year is reccommended and voted on. The minutes of the last 6 AGM's are be available on this website. Recent AGM minutes

Gardens & Maintenance:

Our gardener(s) do roughly 4 hours per week from March to November and 4 hours per month from December to February. This represents a total of about 156 hours per year, but this can vary considerably depending on the work load and the weather.