What to know about maintenance charges before buying a flat

Buyers compare price, location and amenities, then find out about the maintenance bill after they move in. In a gated community with a clubhouse, a pool and round-the-clock security, that bill is a real monthly cost. A flat that looks cheaper on price per square foot can cost more to live in than the one next door.

What the charge pays for

• Cleaning, gardening and landscaping of common areas.
• Security: guards, CCTV and access control.
• Power backup, water supply and the sewage treatment plant.
• The clubhouse, pool, sports courts and community halls.
• Repairs to lifts, common lighting and boundary walls.
• The association's staff and office expenses.

Premium projects sometimes add concierge services or wellness facilities, and you pay for those whether you use them or not.

How it is calculated

There are three common methods. Most Hyderabad projects charge per square footso a larger flat pays more. Some associations split costs equally across all flats regardless of size. Others use a mix, with a fixed part and a part that depends on which amenities you use.

As a typical range, mid-segment projects in Hyderabad charge around ₹2.5-5 per sq ft a month, and luxury projects can go to ₹8-12. Do the arithmetic for your own flat. At ₹4 per sq ft, a 2,000 sq ft flat pays ₹8,000 a monthclose to ₹1 lakh a year. Ask whether the rate is applied to carpet area or saleable area, because the answer changes the bill.

The corpus or sinking fund

Apart from the monthly charge, developers collect a one-time sinking fund (often called the corpus fund) at handover. It is meant for large future expenses such as repainting the building, replacing lifts or relaying water lines. In a big project your share can run into lakhs, and it is easy to miss in the cost sheet.

Under the RERA Act, the builder is responsible for providing and maintaining essential services, on reasonable charges, until the residents' association takes over maintenance. So ask two things: how much corpus is being collected, and when and how it will be transferred to the association.

Questions to ask before you book

1. Is the charge per square foot or divided equally?
2. What exactly is included, and what is billed separately?
3. How often is it revised? Yearly increases are common.
4. How much is the corpus fund contribution?
5. Are water and power backup billed on usage or folded into the charge?
6. If many flats are unsold or vacant, who pays their share?
7. Is any maintenance collected in advance at handover, and for how many months?

Get the answers in writing, preferably in the agreement or the cost sheet.

Warning signs

Be careful if the developer cannot explain how the charge is worked out. The same goes for a project where a large part of the bill pays for amenities you will never use, or where charges have gone up without accounts being shared with residents. In a completed project, talk to people who live there. They will tell you quickly whether the lifts work and whether the money is being spent well.

Maintenance and resale value

Low maintenance is not automatically good. A community that spends properly on upkeep tends to hold its resale price and rent out faster, and a badly maintained building loses value even in a good location. What you want is a charge that matches what is delivered.

So add maintenance to your EMI when you work out the monthly cost of owning the flat, and compare that total across projects. Two flats at a similar price can differ by several thousand rupees a month. Some developers will waive the first year's maintenance if you ask at the time of booking.

If you want the maintenance and corpus numbers compared across the projects on your shortlist, book a call with a relai advisor.