What is a maintenance deposit, and when is it paid?

A maintenance deposit is a sum held for the upkeep of the compound rather than for the unit itself. It covers the shared parts of the project, it is written into the payment plan, and it falls due at or before handover.

What does a maintenance deposit pay for?

It pays for everything the owners share rather than own apart: the gardens and landscaping, the pools, the security gates and guards, cleaning, the lifts, the lighting and the utilities of the common areas, and the repairs those need over time. The unit is yours to finish and keep; the compound around it is run out of this money.

How is the amount set?

The developer writes it as a percentage of the unit's price or as a fixed sum and records it on the compound's plan. Where a page carries a maintenance figure, that figure is the one the developer filed and the plan card prints it beside the deposit and the plan length. Where no figure appears, the amount and its basis belong in the contract and in the compound's maintenance schedule.

When is it paid?

At or before delivery. Handover is the point at which the compound begins to be run, so the sum that funds its running is collected as the keys are handed over. That is separate from the instalments: the instalments pay for the unit, and the maintenance deposit pays for the compound around it.

Is it paid once or every year?

The first payment is made at handover. Upkeep after that continues, and the amount is set out in the compound's maintenance terms, the schedule that governs the shared areas year after year. Read that schedule beside the payment plan, so you know what is collected once and what recurs.

Is it refundable?

Treat it as money spent on the compound's upkeep, not as a deposit returned to you at the end. Whether any part is returned, and on what terms, is a matter for the contract and the compound's rules; the contract is where you read it, and it is what you ask the developer's sales team to show you.

Does every compound charge one?

Not every compound files a maintenance figure on its plan. Where the plan carries one, the page prints it. Where it does not, ask for the maintenance terms of that specific compound before you sign, and have the figure and its basis written into the contract.

What should I check before signing?

Four things: what the deposit covers and over what period; whether the amount is a percentage of the price or a fixed sum; when it is collected and how often it recurs; and the clause that states what is returned, if anything, when the unit changes hands. Put them beside the deposit, the plan length and the delivery year, so that the whole cost of the purchase is in one place.