Managing a small estate with my neighbours

[tab165]

Hi,

Never really posted outside the specific car sections before and looking for some advice

I've recently moved into a house on a new development of 9 houses on an estate accessed via a private road. There are street lights in the estate along with electricity and water taps shared by all.

I've said i'm happy to 'manage' the estate in the sense of being a single point of contact for bills etc. and all the residents have agreed to pay a monthly DD to cover these services.

Can I just set up a standard bank account to run this or does it need to be more of a business account?

Do I need to consider setting up 3rd party liability insurance to cover anyone onsite?

Appreciate any advice, thanks!

[onedsla]

I think it would be wise to set up a company (limited by shares or guarantee) with you and the neighbours as shareholders / members and you (and one other) as directors.


There'll be a small start up expense but could sort out a lot of issues in the long run. It could cover a whole load of services:

- Paying utility bills
- 'Gardening' of communal areas
- Maintainance of streetlamps, electric gates etc (we have service contracts as they tend to break often)
- Building a reserve to cover future resurfacing etc

If arranging things without being behind a company you could risk personal liability for the items you're arranging.

[anonymous-user]

As onedsla said, forming a company is the most common way of doing this.

[tab165]

Thank you I appreciate the replies, that does make the most sense - particularly about liability.

Is there a formal process to setting up a company/issue shares?

Thanks!