Frequently Asked Questions

The provision of electric heating throughout the whole building is via a dry underfloor coil system.

Yes

Yes, we provide this facility free of charge. 

Eden (The Sandars) Limited is responsible for maintaining all communal garden spaces and pods. Balconies, however, are the responsibility of the residents and should be maintained in keeping with the ambience of the overall development.

Yes, we will provide voiles to each of the apartments. 

Yes, we have selected a self-cleaning oven for your convenience.

Our company Solicitors are Gowling WLG, based in both Birmingham and London. 

Our apartment reservation fee is £5000. This fee is a refundable deposit, subject to us incurring any legal costs. Please ask our Sales Executives for the full conditions that apply with this fee.

We look at each situation individually and mutually agree a timescale at time of the reservation.

There is no ground rent charge at The Sandars.

If we are made aware of this fact before instructing our Solicitors to start exchange proceedings, then all your deposit will be returned. Full conditions are available from our Sales Executives.

You will need to consider a Car Parking Fee if required, Monthly Service Fee, plus Sales Administration Fee on leaving.

£500 per annum on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Your electricity usage is billed directly from your nominated supplier. 

Yes. We sell each property in an Eden development or village on a long leasehold basis, of up to 250 years. It is your home, held as your asset, and you are free to sell at any stage, on the open market.

We will provide a full schedule of insurances on completion.

Yes, you can gift your apartment to a family member through your inheritance. They will need to meet our minimum age requirement if they intend to live within The Sandars.

Sub-letting is prohibited under the Lease. However, there is the mechanism within the Lease for nominating a Designated Occupier for those whose intention it is to occupy but are unable to do so for a limited period of up to say 3 years. Please discuss this with the Sales Executives and your solicitor. Whilst the Lease prohibits any Landlord and Tenant relationship from occurring, the Designated Occupier provision enables owners to make independent arrangements for occupation by a qualifying person with whom they may have a private arrangement. Note a Designated Occupier is defined as : ‘any person who is not a Tenant but is a Qualifying Person intending to live in the Demised Premises as his or her only or principal home and designated by the Tenant in accordance with paragraphs 5.5 and 5.6 of Part 2 of Schedule 6 and approved by the Landlord in accordance with paragraph 5.6 of Part 2 of Schedule 6’.

Our recommended removal company will help you with your move. If you also wish to use their decluttering service, please advise when booking. The cost for both these services will depend on the size of your current house and number of belongings. Customers have an entirely free choice of remover and Eden does not receive any commission or incentive from the suppliers for such referrals.

We have designed our lease to ensure that our homeowners are protected, with our Concierge or Estate Manager being the first point of contact. The Lease provides the regulations and legal protections in this respect.

Periodic assessments for residency require leaseholders to engage with our services to enable them to continue to live independently. We assess the resident to ensure they have the capability of living independently, even with early stages of dementia. Our Care Providers (Care Partners (Newbury) Ltd) provide the assessment to establish whether this will be possible. This whole process involves any family member or a selected person who wishes to take part. Should the resident require additional dementia care, our care partners will assist with finding a suitable care home or dementia specialist. The Lease provides clarification on this with the Residency Criteria (under the Qualifying Person definition in the Lease).

We are happy to assist you in moving with our Eden resale service, but you have every right to select your Estate Agent to provide this service.

Eden has a pre-emptive right to purchase any property that is offered for sale and could exercise that option in such circumstances. Eden will advise those vendors who choose to appoint Eden as their agent on appropriate asking prices. Where vendors select external agents, Eden will liaise with them on all aspects of the resale.

We will arrange a periodic health check in compliance with the Landlord’s obligations under the S.106 Agreement with West Berkshire County Council. Residency criteria with our lease require all residents to be capable of living independently within the support regime that is available either via our care partners, Care Partners (Newbury) Limited, or another Care agency of your choosing. Care Partners (Newbury) Limited can provide both additional domestic help and full personal care if required. Please feel free to ask our Sales Executives for further information.

The Landlord, the property developer and long-term owner and operator of The Sandars is responsible for running the monthly management charge scheme.

The management charge is collected in advance every month. 

The management charge changes annually in April. The new charge is based on the greater of the increase in the Average Earnings Index or the Retail Prices Index.

Vendors pay Eden a 1% + VAT Sales Administration Fee.

The 2022-3 management charge for a one-bedroom apartment is £500 per calendar month and £650 per calendar month for a two-bedroom apartment. The charge will increase annually in April. For further details see the leaflet  Our Costs and Services Explained.

Yes, there are charging points available. 

Yes, there is an internal refuse store. Owners can take any recyclable refuse to the communal bin store or request its removal within their one-hour service or additional domestic services according to individual choice.

There is a no smoking policy in public and communal areas. 

Yes, as it’s your property.

The Lease summary sets out common sense restrictions designed to maintain the appearance of the balconies. These include no drying of clothes or storage of bikes or any other unsightly items.

Yes, this is clarified in the Summary of the Lease. 

Any homeowner can use this facility at any time, other than when there is a prior booking confirmed via the Concierge.

If you need a spare room when guests are visiting, we have a guest suite available on site. There is a modest charge for using this room to cover housekeeping. The maximum booking of our Guest Suite is three nights at any one time.

Yes, there is a bar within the club lounge, serviced via the day/night concierge desk. 

Yes, you can use all the Eden Members Club facilities, including the restaurant, at any other of our developments.

We welcome both your family and friends at your retirement development.

We have 24-hour on-site staffing to ensure there is always someone at hand should you need assistance.

The Estate Manager is on duty Monday- Friday from 7.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. At weekends there is an Assistant Estate Manager on duty from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm. Weekdays there is a Day Concierge on duty from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm and there is a Night Concierge operating from 8.00 pm to 8.00 am, 7 days a week.

Yes, and this is part of the basic service fee. 

The 24/7 call system is managed in-house and will go straight through to a member of the on-site concierge team. Depending on the nature of the call, our concierge team will either visit and attend to the emergency call or contact additional services via the off-site 24-hour call centre.

We facilitate personal care with a partnering agreement between Eden (The Sandars) Ltd and Care Partners (Newbury) Ltd; a reputable CQC registered home care agency based in Bartholomew Street, Newbury. They are engaged to provide the one hour of domestic help per apartment per week. The agency can offer additional domestic and social support to order by direct arrangement and all forms of personal care services, as shown in the client information packs.

Domestic services are included in the monthly management payment and this is based on one hour per week for each apartment. Our Care Partner can provide extra hours, or increments thereof, of domestic help, social calls and personal care at an additional cost. Laundry services are not included within the monthly fee, but these can be arranged direct with a local service provider using the Concierge desk.

As above. Care Partners (Newbury) Ltd. Please refer to our Housekeeping leaflet and our Care Services leaflet for additional information.

The Concierge provides daily support to the Estate Manager and has additional concierge service functions to support the residents both in terms of daily deliveries and arrangements such as parcel deliveries, laundry arrangement with external providers. The concierge is also responsible for the daily upkeep of the communal and circulation areas.

Yes.

We provide a key fob for all communal doors, and a separate key for each apartment. 

The Avukox emergency call system with video door entry and Intruder alarm. 

You can go on holiday or visit your relatives for as long as you please, knowing that we will look after your home. We fit all properties with an intruder and smoke alarm. There are also closed-circuit television cameras around the development. If you wish, we can also inspect your home while you are away and make any arrangements for your return, including opening and stocking your fridge. 

Yes, we will provide this certificate on completion.

To ensure we consider you and your neighbours reasonably, we would ask for your pet to be well trained and in the case of a dog, kept on a lead on pathways when walking out of Pearl House. Full details of our pet policy are available from our Sales Executives on site.

Each apartment will have its own mailbox.