It's common when the freeholder is either a company, or an absentee.
You're not paying for maintenance, you're paying the profit of whoever owns the freehold, and possibly the company that manages the property.

Their business model is thus: Hit tenants for as much as you can, and spend as little as possible.

That's about it, I think.

I can see it would make the place hard to sell. When I bought mine, I checked that very carefully. Mine is a shared freehold between two properties. Each property owns 1 share on the company that owns the freehold. We have no payments at all, although of course if something breaks, we have to pay to fix it (as will you . . .). I wouldn't have bought a place if it wasn't set up like that.
(username failed moderation, Thu 9 Aug 2012, 13:26, 1 reply)

or
more likely you are paying a management company rather than the freeholder. Most freeholders sit back and collect minimal ground rent waiting for your lease to slip away so you have to extend your lease at great cost to you (or no one can get a mortgage on it when you try to sell it). Chances are you have a management company (which you have the right to be a director of) being run by a managing agent.
It is always a case of getting enough people interested though which is always the big problem.
Leasehold property is one of the biggest screw overs going.
(cmouse is pondering about life in other jobs, Thu 9 Aug 2012, 15:00, closed)