What are service charges?

Generally, leases provide for residents to make advance contributions towards the cost of services. The scope of services we provide and the way they are accounted for, are usually set out, and governed by the terms in your lease.

What do service charges include?

Service charges may cover the following:

• Day to day repairs and maintenance to communal areas and the structure of the building
• Electricity – cost of lighting communal areas
• Landscaping – upkeep of landscaped areas around the block
• Caretaker (if provided) who keeps the internal and external communal areas clean and free from rubbish and graffiti, provides information to residents, reports and checks repairs in communal areas and helps to keep the properties secure
• Cleaning of communal areas
• Maintenance of fire alarms/extinguishers in communal areas, and door entry systems
• Lifts – maintenance and repair
• Building insurance – insuring the structure of the building is our responsibility
• Reserve funds – major works, redecoration of exterior and common internal areas

Reserve funds

In order for you to meet the cost of major works or cyclical/ external decoration, residents pay into what is known as a reserve fund. Reserve funds are often permitted by the lease and are in place to spread costs to help avoid the payment of large one-off bills when works are due.

When you first buy your property, you will be given an initial monthly estimate for service charges until 31 March of the current financial year which will not require you to make any contributions into the reserve fund. Please note that the monthly estimate from 1 April of the following financial year will include the reserve fund figure and this means that your service charges will reflect the increase.

Click here for a breakdown of service charges

How the service charges are calculated and billed

This is calculated by using the latest available actual costs for a year and the average of the previous five years’ repair costs. The estimated charges will be billed to you during March each year, for the coming year.

We estimate the annual cost of the services each year – which runs from 1 April to 31 March. Then towards the end of September of each year, we send you a summary of the service charge expenditure. If the cost of the services varies from the estimate we made for that year, we will adjust the amount you need to pay in the following year. This is similar to what happens with gas and electricity bills.