We maintain the communal areas of your building and estate. You pay for this through a service charge. This charge covers:
- building insurance
- caretaking
- grounds maintenance
- communal services and supplies (including electricity and safety inspections)
- shared block maintenance
- CCTV
- concierge services
- heating and hot water
- management of services and administration
- bin hire and cleaning
- repairs and maintenance to your flat or the block
Your lease explains how we calculate your service charges. If these charges meet set levels, we may need to consult you. For details of charges for larger works, see our major works charges page.
Service charges booklet
We have produced a service charges booklet to help leaseholders understand:
- what services you may be charged for
- how estimated and actual service charges are worked out
- an example of a service charges statement
- guidance on payments, disputes and key contacts
- a summary of your rights and obligations
The booklet is useful if you have received a service charges estimate or want a clearer explanation of the charges on your account.
View our service charges guide for leaseholders (PDF, 331.27 KB).
Rateable values
Each flat or maisonette has a rateable value set by the Valuation Office Agency. For some charges, we use these values to work out the percentage you need to pay.
Your service charge invoice
You will receive a breakdown of the service charges for your property before each accounting year, which starts on 1 April.
As these are produced at the start of the year, we will not know the exact costs for every item and will supply estimated costs based on the previous year’s charges. We will try to take any anticipated changes, such as increases to fuel costs, into account.
You will receive an invoice with your service charge breakdown telling you your total estimated service charge for the year and the monthly amounts you need to pay. Under the terms of your lease payments are due in advance on 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January but we allow monthly payment as customers have told us they prefer this.
Once we have reached the end of the accounting year we will be able to work out the actual costs of the services to your block. Once we've done this we will send you another statement telling you the actual cost of services for that year. This needs to be sent to you by October and will tell you if the actual costs were more or less than what we estimated.
If the costs are less than the estimated amount, you will receive a credit on your account and this can be used to pay toward your charges for the rest of the year. If you pay by direct debit this will automatically be reduced.
If the costs are more than the estimated amount you will receive a debit on your account and an invoice. Your lease states that full payment must be made, but we are happy for an arrangement to be made to clear this by the end of the current financial year. If you pay by direct debit this will automatically be increased.
You can pay by direct debit by completing this form (PDF, 79.58 KB) and returning it to us.
Disagreeing with charges
If you think any charges are incorrect, you can raise a dispute with us. Please explain what the issue is and how you would like it resolved. The more details you give, the easier it will be for us to look into and get back to you.