Service charges
As a leaseholder, you will be charged for the services we provide to you, as well as the ground rent.
What we charge for
The services you are charged for will vary depending on where you live, the type of property you have, and the conditions of your lease. If you live on an estate, for example, you will receive more services than if you live in a property on a street and your service charge will reflect that.
All leaseholders are charged for:
- Buildings insurance
- Management fees
- Minor repairs
Other services you may be charged for include:
- Electricity costs for communal lighting, heating, TV and lifts
- Emergency lighting testing
- Lift repairs and maintenance
- Communal television aerial maintenance
- Caretaking and cleaning services
- Concierge and security
- Maintenance of items such as water tanks, door entry systems, fire alarms, intruder alarms and dry risers
- Landlord controlled heating
- TV amplifier (aerials)
- Maintenance of services such as CCTV and car park barriers
- Grounds maintenance
- Pest control
Calculating your service charge
If you are living in a block we take the cost of the service to the whole block, multiply it by the rateable value of your property and divide that by the rateable value of the whole block.
If you are living on an estate we take the cost of the service to the whole estate, multiply it by the rateable value of your property and divide that by the rateable value of the whole estate.
You can find more information about how we calculate your service charge on the information pack sent with your estimated and actual charge.
Billing your service charge
Each March, we send you an estimate of how much we think we will spend on your property in the coming financial year (1 April to 31 March). Your bill tells you the date by which you must pay it.
In September we send you details of how much we have actually spent on your property in the previous financial year and a breakdown of that spending.
If we have spent less than we estimated, we will credit your account, or you can ask us to refund the overestimated amount.
If we have spent more than we estimated, we will send you an additional bill. It will tell you the date by which you must pay it.