The annual fee residents paid in 2015-2016 was £98 per property, but it has since risen to £209.
David Lowe has lived in his home for six years and had never missed paying his annual charge.
Then last year, he says his bill arrived in the post after the deadline to pay had passed, and he was given a £60 fine.
He expected Blue Property Management to waive it when he explained the postal delay, but was simply told to “take it up with the Post Office” and was forced to pay.
He says: “I was gutted really and it was annoying because I was helpless.”
Another resident who was also issued with a fine is Chris Rhodes, who says: “We are just held at ransom.
“We were just told when buying it that there would be a low service charge, but whenever you get a letter from them you just think, ‘oh no that‘s more money going out!’ ”
Rhodes asked Blue Property Management to justify the £60 he was billed on top of his service charge, and says that he was told it was to cover sending another letter.
In his case, he was able to persuade the company to waive the fee, but only after he threatened to take the company to a tribunal.
The action group’s spokesman is Joshua Bray, who moved into his brand new home five years ago.
He says: “We are seeing random charges.
“They charge us for what they want and hide them under broad statements like maintenance, landscaping, management but whenever you ask them what they have done, they just hide and say ‘no, we don’t have to show you anything’.
“We have got about half the estate signed up to this group now.
“We just wanted to turn around and say ‘no, we have had enough.’ ”
He says people wanting to sell their homes could have the deals legally blocked by Blue Property Management, and there is unhappiness with the condition of public areas of the estate.
“You can see so many bare patches of land where they have just sprayed weedkiller everywhere.
“There are dead trees everywhere and they don’t replace anything.
“A tree will die and you get gaps everywhere and it really ruins the look of the estate.”
