Your service charge covers the day-to-day running costs of services at your building and if applicable, the estate your homes is part of. The services we charge for are set out in your tenancy agreement or lease. This page explains more about this.
Your service charge covers the day-to-day running costs of services at your building and if applicable, the estate your homes is part of. The services we charge for are set out in your tenancy agreement or lease. This page explains more about this.
Your service charge covers the day-to-day running costs of the services we provide at your building and if applicable, the estate your home is on.
Your tenancy agreement or lease sets out how we work out service charges. Every year we will write to you setting out what your service charge will be.
If you are a leaseholder or freeholder on a variable service charge we will send you an annual statement with the actual costs of services within six months of the close of the financial year along with any request for payment for any major repairs completed during the year. If your payments have been more than the actual costs of services this will be refunded. If your payments have been less we will ask you to pay the deficit.
Most service charges are fixed or variable but some have elements of both and these are knows as hybrids.
Fixed service charges are reviewed every year. If at the end of the year the cost of providing the services was more than the payments you made we will not ask you to pay more.
You will not get money back if the costs of the service were less than your payments. This is how fixed charges operate and this is set out in your tenancy agreement or lease.
Variable service charges work on the basis of an estimated cost for services. We send out the estimate of costs for the service every year. Then when the financial year ends we work out the difference in the estimated and real costs. This creates an annual statement which we will then send to you.
If the real costs are higher than the estimate, we will ask you to pay the difference. If the estimate was higher than the cost, we will refund you the difference.
Your service charge could cover a range of services that we provide, such as:
To work out your service charge we:
We apply service charges in line with the terms set out in your tenancy agreement or lease which reflect the type of charge you have.
Charges will be different, even between neighbours, for several reasons:
It is normal for service charges to differ, even between neighbours, for various reasons.
The management charge covers the cost of:
Your service charge covers the day-to-day running costs of your building and if applicable, the estate your building is on.
Your tenancy agreement or lease sets out how we work out service charges. Every year we will write to you setting out what your service charge will be with a breakdown of how these have been worked out.
For more information visit our service charges page.
If you are on a variable service charge this is worked out on the basis of an estimated cost for services.
We send out the estimate of costs for the service every year. Then when the financial year ends we work out the difference in the estimated and real costs. This creates an annual statement which we will then send to you.
If the costs are higher than the estimate there is a deficit and we will ask you to pay the difference. If the estimate was higher than the cost there is a surplus and we will refund you the difference.
Fixed service charges are reviewed every year. If at the end of the year the cost of providing the services was more than the payments you made we will not ask you to pay more. You will not get money back if the costs of the service were less than your payments.
Your utility bills pay for the energy you use in your home, the costs in your service charge represent the costs associated with running things like lights inside your block, external lights for pathways and car parks, and communal heating for your building.
The gardening costs in your service charge relate to the maintenance of the communal outdoor spaces where you live, not your own garden.
These spaces can include grass, trees, shrubs and paved areas. The cost of maintaining these spaces is covered by us or our chosen contractors, not the local council, and passed on equally through the service charge to those customers who have access to and benefit from these spaces.
If you receive Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, whether this is paid to us or to you, you should send a copy of your rent review letter to the Housing Benefit Team at your local council or send a copy to the Department of Work and Pensions (within your monthly assessment period) if you are on Universal Credit. This will notify the appropriate authority of the change and your claim will be reassessed.
