Company Details

Avoid this company at all costs

Buyers beware. We were in the process of buying a 6 year old house on an estate in Bideford, North Devon when a copy of the title deeds were sent by our solicitor along with a deed of covenant for signature. This is how we found out that a) we had to pay an annual maintenance charge as the estate agent failed to tell us and b) Greenbelt were the company responsible. I spent a lot of time researching the company and reading damning reviews found on the internet, as a result of which we made the decision to pull out of the purchase. We were also offered the same advice from many disgruntled residents in estates up and down the country who had set up a Facebook campaign page to share their stories. A freehold property should be just that. By paying maintenance, especially with it being written into the title deeds is, bar definition, making the property leasehold. If you have a dispute with Greenbelt be it over the amount or items billed or work not being carried out etc, they can actually stop the sale of your property and if a new purchaser refuses to sign the new deed of covenant they can stop your purchase. As i understand it the local authority's are shirking responsibility of maintaining the green/play areas of these new estates and only offer developers planning permission if they agree to take on the maintenance. Something needs to change. Residents of these estates are being ripped off by this company. We had a lucky escape but thousands haven't and I feel so sorry for them all. Buyers beware is all i can say. Make sure you get a good solicitor and do your research if you're thinking of buying a new build.

Complete rip off. Absolute robbery. Don't buy a house with this lot written into the missives. 👎

Although I don't agree with the setup of open space and playpark management for new estates, which passes the ownership of the land to a management company and expect the residents to pay . I blame the local authority for this cost cutting exercise by handing over the responsibility for the maintenance of new estate open spaces and playparks to a third party such as Greenbelt and expecting the residents to pay for facilities (playpark mainly) that in our case are used predominantly by non residents. Having said this I don't feel I can blame the company Greenbelt for this situation. We are still in the first year of our contract with them and they have been very helpful, listening and responding to our concerns. Especially Customercare and the Customer Liaison Officer. They suggested we set up a Residents Association and we have a very good working relationship with them and look forward to it continuing this way.

i really enjoyed the first letter from this company -£84 in my account. I thought that's a scam, just ignore it to then be told my builder is keeping the money and actually we want 15 months worth of maintenance money from you. id highly recommend buying a house with these hidden in the background due to the unfriendly letters and shoddy work they appear to think deserves a ridiculous amount to charge, I will say if anything they are consistent

By the time you come to read these reviews it will probably be too late as developers don't like being too upfront when it comes to telling you about the true arrangement you will be entering into with this company (evidenced by no paperwork whatsoever from the sales team detailing anything to do with Greenbelt prior to making any financial commitment). You will eventually discover that what you have been signed up to when buying your home is a life long 'contract' with a single supplier (Greenbelt), that regardless of how they perform your development are unable terminate and replace - ever. Then you will discover that they have the ability to charge whatever they like through 'extras' - which they can and will add to the list of regularly. Not much more than grass cutting is included in the (supposedly) regulated charge, everything else is an extra. All repairs to anything (even grass) are extras. Anything involving a playpark, other than their quarterly inspection - extra (with a massive markup on the true costs this one). Imagine what the bill will be should they decide to renew the playpark equipment, or all the fences they are responsible for. You have been sold into an unlimited price contract with a single provider that you can never remove and answers to nobody. The outcomes of recent court cases involving this company cast serious doubt on the legality of these arrangements.

If Mr Turpin was still around then he'd surely be on the Board of this Company! Absolute disgrace ........ price increases are a joke from year one to year three, and the service provided quite honestly does not come near a justification of pricing, not that you can actually get one from them ! Twice I have been charged late payment fees and neither time have I ever received a bill. Held to ransom for further payment for any change in property deeds of my OWN paid for by my earnings property! I don't see Greenbelt chipping in on my mortgages payments to justify a say in whether I can sell the property or not !? It is high time this kind of company was regulated and I hope to see the day it becomes so and honest hard working home owners are reimbursed for the outrageous amounts being charged from an over priced greedy company. I will never purchase a property with this arrangement in place again.

We live in Hamilton, Leicester. Greenbelt are responsible for the upkeep of the swale and the surrounding parks and green areas. I am a member of Hamilton Residents' Association and we have a very good working relationship with Mr. Nick Upton who is one of the managers for this area. Nick has been involved and supportive of our social events. He has also sponsored and supported our litter picking events. He can be contacted and always returns a call if I have left a message.

Appalling company which uses devious, under hand methods to intimidate and demand money. Basically, demand money with menaces. Over charge for their poor services or non existent services. Just a complete rip off. Unregulated, levy ridiculous late payments charges, threaten court action, do not provide itemised and accurate bills, excuse after excuse, bullying after bullying. They are just another example of greedy housing developers using every possible way to squeeze even more money out of us hard working people. Classic case of fat cats getting fatter and the few taking from the many. It's just wrong that such companies exist and are allowed to get away with it.

the reviews speak volumes. All these people cannot be wrong. I have nothing good to say about this company. They basically take on the maintenance of the open spaces when developers build new Homes. Sounded idyllic to start with. What they don’t tell you is that they buy the land then maintain it at a cost to the (Freehold) homeowners up front in advance. Yes that’s right, you pay them to cut the grass on land THEY own!!’ They then charge extra for “additional work” which quite frankly hasn’t been done in the first place. There’s the “removal of a fridge” on nearly every bill. This so-called agreement is written into the deeds and there’s no get-out clause. Don’t like it? Tough. You can’t sack them because they own the land so no-one else is allowed to touch it. What a con. Look up my Facebook page for more evidence of this scam- “Unhappy homeowners against Greenbelt Group” 1,200 members and growing by the day.

It feels horrible to hand over large sums of money to see nothing in return because you're maintaining someone else's land. Once a year a bill for 'site inspections' or work there is no evidence happened as i work from home and haven't seen it carried out lands on my doormat and there is nothing I can do about their claims other than keep paying. It's a modern day scandal and the government really should be looking into these cowboys and their estate management charges. Every year the bill increases and we see very little for it, definitely not value for money and there is no way to hold them to account. It's a disgrace. Do not buy on a development which deals with Greenbelt Group unless you want to give someone carte blanche to waste your hard earned cash. I have a freehold house so am paying for the upkeep of land owned by Green belt, used by the public and of no interest to me in any sense of the word. I hope the government outlaw this kind of arrangement soon and in future we can look back on it with rightful outrage.

This company has no regard to customer service or value for money, its business model is based on charging customers extortionate annual fees for fictitious services. When questioned they provide a list of visits (supposed inspections), when you ask about work that needs doing they advise its not covered uner the maintenance schedule. In the 2 years that 50 plus residents have been paying greenbelt fees (£150 plus each per annum and rising) nothing other than a bag of bark being spread and a quick spray of some weeds has taken place. There is no regular maintenance required on our development i.e. no grass, just paved area's yet everyone is tied into what appears to be a legalised extortion racket. Greenbelt were given the freehold for the areas we are supposedly paying them to maintain so the only way out at present is to buy the freehold back. Thats right they are given it yet we need to buy it off them plus cover all legal costs. I am amazed no one in governmant has looked at what this company is doing, it cant possibly be lawful to run a completely non accountable monopoly and effectively charge what you want for doing what you want.

Unfortunately no zero rating.My son wants a cowboy outfit for Christmas,so i am buying him Greenbelt.Even before they start charging you for work that has not been or will not be carried out,there is irrefutable evidence that they are a legal scamming company.Due completely forgetting about last years bill we received a red bill with a whopping 25% late payment surcharge. This is totally scandalous as there is also a threat on the bill that if the amount is not paid by a certain date,there would be further price hikes.I do not know of any other companies that employ these bullying tactics.Unfortunately all local councils must bear some of the blame as they refuse to take on land maintenance.As part of the granting of the planning application all new housing estates are now privately maintained.It is a licence to print money,and it will only get worse.Can i suggest you all send a letter to your local MP regarding this particular company,as i will be doing likewise,because it seems this company thinks it is untouchable.I would rather pay extra council tax than line the pockets of these scammers.With millions of new houses in the pipeline,it think that this particular company is rubbing their hands in anticipation.Unfortunately if you want a new build you have no choice but to pay these scandalous charges,and there is nothing to stop them hiking up the prices year on year.There ought to be a loophole that allows all the residents to set up their own management company,so that the maintenance can be carried out at a fraction of the cost,after all,they only do the easy bit ie cut the grass.

Cowboys - welcome pack received out of the blue with late payment charges. Called to query. Arrogant staff, laughing down the phone making sarcastic comments. I will be taking extra care to ensure this company isn't managing my next property. Avoid! Sadly too late for me.

All the 1 star reviews don't lie I am afraid. Shocking service and charging for work that they obviously do not carry out. Our estate in Cheshire were not told that GB were taking over our the land - we didn't have a choice. Do not buy a house if this company are in charge. I have not met one person on our estate who is happy with the service and they haven't carried out any of the work in a long time. Something needs to be done about them. I am disputing the charges they are proposing. They have increased by 5% whilst reducing the amount of work carried out.

Bill in advance. Charge vast sums of money for "inspections" with no evidence they've taken place or any action results. Ridiculous admin fee which is multiplied by the number of houses paying. I've reported dead trees which have still not been replaced two years later! Our playpark was without a replacement swing for over a year. Other play equipment has been broken for ages.

i live in belfast and im sorry i ever bought my house this company is a rip of company they just rip people of plz don't buy a house if green belt owns the green round it.and if you try to get in touch with them don't both they don't want to no

Over priced. Do next to nothing with the excessive money they charge people. The areas they are responsible for are not maintained at all other than grass cutting.

Unfortunately no option for a zero rating. Greenbelt Group are absolutely awful, they appear to be like a dreadful infection that is near impossible to get rid of ! Having experienced their rip off charges for a number of years , I have come to the conclusion that they appear to have identified a legal loophole , that basically gives them the ability to 'Milk ' any poor sod that has the misfortune to live in an area that they have anything to do with ! If you can , avoid this company at all costs, because once infected ..!!!

If I could give this company zero stars I would. Their charges are excessive, way above inflation increases (3 times inflation). They charge £81 for a supervisor to inspect the site why? is the person who does the maintenance not sufficiently qualified to state what is/isn't required. They charge the site just under £12,500 per year to cut a couple of small areas of grass and trim the bushes. I sat down and worked out actually how much has been spent on 'maintenance' last year. This comes to £4920.30 while there is £7567.60 attributed to inspection, managerial charges,snagging, admin & VAT. Astonishingly as a site we paid £3864 in admin charges. On the bill they say how they break down the charges but fail to disclose what we pay an admin charge for. Forgive me but I don't think it costs us £42 each to produce a bill. Absolutely diabolical. This company are total rip off merchants.