What is a clubhouse fee?

What is a clubhouse?

The clubhouse is the social building in a compound: the gym, the pool, the sports courts, the restaurant or café, and the hall where owners meet. It is a shared facility rather than part of any one home, and it serves the residents of the development.

What does the clubhouse fee cover?

The clubhouse fee is the charge that funds that building and its facilities: their construction in the first place, where the developer sets a membership charge, and their running afterwards — the staff, the upkeep, the equipment and the utilities they use. It is the amount that keeps the club open and in order for the owners who pay it.

Is the clubhouse fee part of the unit price?

No. The unit price is what you pay for your home. The clubhouse fee is a separate charge tied to the club and its facilities, and it sits apart from the compound's periodic charge for the shared roads, gardens and lighting. Three figures can therefore appear beside one unit: the price, the service charge for the shared areas, and the clubhouse charge where the compound carries one.

Is it paid once, or every year?

Both shapes exist. Some compounds set a one-time membership charge paid with the purchase or at handover; others set an annual subscription for the club's upkeep, or a one-time charge together with a yearly one. Which applies to you is stated in the compound's own terms and in your contract, so read the amount and the interval there before you sign.

What if I do not use the clubhouse?

The obligation follows what you signed. Where the fee is a membership charge written into your contract, it falls due as that contract states; where it is an annual subscription, it follows the compound's rules on the club. If you want to know what happens if you do not pay, or whether you can decline the membership, that is a clause to read and to raise with the developer before signing.

Who sets the amount, and does it stay the same?

The developer sets the amount when the compound is planned and put on sale, and the figure for a facility that is not yet built can be revised as the build advances. A one-time membership charge is fixed at the terms you sign; an annual subscription can be adjusted by the management that runs the compound, within what the compound's rules and your contract allow. Ask the developer for the current figure in writing, because the listing does not carry it.

What should I check about the clubhouse fee?

Four things: whether the clubhouse is built or still planned; whether the fee is one-time, yearly or both; what the fee covers and whether it changes with use; and how it relates to the compound's periodic charge, so you know the two apart. Get the amount, the interval and what it covers in writing, and read them with the contract and the delivery year together.