Bow Quarter Freeholders — Park Buildings

BQ Freeholders & Costs

History of Bow Quarter Freeholders

Originally there was one freeholder for all of Bow Quarter, due to financial difficulties, part of Bow Quarter was sold to a developer, that developer subsequently built the Park Buildings within the Bow Quarter grounds.

The terms of this sale and the responsibilities of the continued management of Bow Quarter and the rights of all Bow Quarter leaseholders are documented in the “Transfer Deed of 11th February 1994” and your lease.

Bow Quarter now has two freeholders:

Little Apple Holdings Ltd
Abacus Land 1 (Prop Co 2) Ltd

Land Registry outline from the “Transfer Deed of 11th February 1994”

Abacus land within the red boundary line

Little Apple Holdings Ltd (LAH) owns the freehold to the "Factory Buildings", which comprises of 525 properties + the grounds surrounding the Factory buildings and Blondin Street townhouses.

Nearly two thirds of the Factory Buildings leaseholders own shares in the LAH, giving them a share of the freehold.

The LAH board is run by Factory building leaseholders that have shares.

Abacus Land 1 (Prop Co 2) Ltd owns the freehold to the Park Buildings, which comprises of 208 properties + the ground surrounding the Park Buildings as shown within the red lines of the Land Registry map

Abacus have contracted Homeground to be their representative, to collect ground rent, manage lease extensions, etc.- The Park Buildings - 208 properties.

The leaseholders of Park Building formed a Right To Manage (RTM) company in 2014 to manage Park Buildings.

Areas of Responsibility

Park Buildings

Freeholder - Abacus (represented by Homeground)

Board - Park RTM

Managing Agent - Rendall & Rittner (R&R)

Bow Quarter Estate

Freeholder - LAH

Board - LAH

Managing Agent - Estates Property Management

Factory Buildings

Freeholder - LAH

Board - LAH

Managing Agent - Estates Property Management

Service Charges & Ground Rent

Park Building service charges are paid twice a year - July 1st and January 1st. The budget year is July to June.
On occasion the service charges for July may be issued after these dates if the RTM board is still finalising the budget.
The Park Building service charges cover costs like:
- Communal area cleaning
- Door entry system maintenance
- Drain maintenance
- Fire prevention & maintenance
- General repairs
- Pest Control
- Plant facilities - water pumps
- Building & terrorism insurance
- Accounts preparation & audit fees
- Company secretarial fees
- Health & safety fees
- Legal & professional fees
- Managing agent fees
In addition to ongoing costs there is a collection for the reserve funds to prepare for unplanned works
The Bow Quarter Estate service charges run on a July to June budget cycle and are by LAH and their Managing Agent.
The Estate service charges cover costs like:
- Estate and Concierge staff wages and related staff costs
- Concierge parcel management service
- Water charges
- Electricity - Estate lighting, etc
- Security lodge
- Refuse removal
- Landscape maintenance
- Pond maintenance
- Estate fire prevention & maintenance
- Security, door entry systems & Estate gates
- Plant facilities & equipment
- Estate pest control
- General Repairs & Maintenance
- Leisure facilities
- Leisure centre plant & equipment Maintenance
- Classes & Studio Instructors
In addition to ongoing costs there is a collection for the reserve funds to prepare for unplanned works
Ground rent is due to Homeground twice yearly on July 1st and January 1st, the cost is £62.50, unless you have had your lease extended and have agreed a different value with Homeground

Notice - May 2026:

Due to complaints by a number of leaseholders to Homeground on budget line items in the Bow Quarter Estate service charges, Homeground have not issued the July 2025 and January 2026 BQ Estate service charges to Park leaseholders.

These charges are on hold while Homeground continue to investigate the issues raised. Charges are just on hold, they will be issued once Homeground have reached a conclusion.

Estate service charges are circa £1.1k every 6 months, which means currently circa £2.2k of charges have not been issued to Park leaseholders. Leaseholders are encouraged to budget for these charges in preparation for charges being issued.