Service charges
Contents
- Tenant service charges
- Leaseholder service charges
Leaseholder service charges
As a leaseholder, you need to contribute towards certain costs, usually called service charges. Service charges are set out in the service charge schedule of your lease agreement but will normally include the following:
|
General repairs and maintenance (day to day repairs) |
|
|---|---|
| Grounds maintenance |
|
| Communal Lighting |
|
| Insurance |
|
| Management Fee |
|
Invoices and statements
At the beginning of each financial year, we will set your quarterly invoices at an amount that we believe covers the costs we estimate will be incurred during that year.
After the end of the financial year (31 March), we then have six months to send you a final statement of costs based on actual invoices paid. We will send this to you by 30 September each year.
If we have over-estimated your invoices, and your service charge account has accrued a credit, we will offset this against invoices based on estimated costs for the following year. Leases do not typically allow a refund to be sent to you.
If we have under-estimated your invoices and not enough was paid, we can choose to:
- add the deficit onto the estimated costs for the following financial year and increase your invoices to repay this over 12 months
or - send you a one-off invoice for the shortfall to be paid within 30 days
We normally choose the first option and add any deficit to your estimated costs for the following year, but, we reserve the right to send a one-off invoice.
Paying
We will send you four quarterly invoices for payment by the 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January. These are for the quarters commencing on these dates and are for payment in advance.
You will also be sent one ground rent invoice for £10 each year. This is sent on the anniversary of the original transfer of the property - so may not be the date you took over the property.
Disagreeing with service charges
Your statement will only show your contribution towards the costs that have been incurred.
You have the right to request an inspection of all the documents used and a full calculation of the service charge - you need to put this request in writing to us and we will make the documents available for inspection at an agreed date and time.
If you're still unhappy with the calculation, or you believe that your charges are unreasonable, you may apply for a determination of your service charges by a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT).
The tribunal is part of the Valuation Office Agency Service and is an independent government agency that will adjudicate on the reasonableness of service charges. The LVT’s decision in respect of an application is binding on both parties.
You may wish to seek advice about disputing charges and other leasehold matters.
Last updated 13 April 2023