Service charges
What is a service charge?
A service charge is a payment made by a tenant, leaseholder, shared owner or freeholder. It is to pay for the services and benefits provided and maintained by Swaythling that are generally shared or communal.
What do service charges pay for?
Service charges relate to a number of different items. Not all items are charged to every home, for example some blocks do not have a lift. You are only charged for a service if your home benefits from that service. The 'main' service charges are for:
- Estate services such as estate cleaning, estate rubbish clearance and estate lighting.
- Communal grounds maintenance including gardening, grass cutting, hedge cutting, tree works and the general maintenance of landscaped and amenity grassed areas and street sweeping.
- Door entry, entry phone and warden call systems.
- Utilities for communal areas.
- Electrical inspections and gas safety checks.
- Fuel for communal heating systems as well as the repair and maintenance of all parts of the communal heating systems.
- Caretaking and cleaning costs for services such as block cleaning, maintaining equipment, emergency caretaking services, communal window cleaning and light bulb replacement in communal areas.
- Servicing and repairing lifts.
- Servicing hard-wired smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
- Testing, servicing and repairing fire alarms, fire appliances, portable generators and emergency lighting.
- Communal aerials.
Can I claim housing benefit for service charges?
If you pay rent to us, most service charges are eligible for housing benefit. This is with the exception of services to your specific home. For example electricity, gas, water/sewerage, cesspools, individual stair lifts or leisure items like TV aerials may not be eligible for housing benefit. You can obtain guidance on this from your council's housing benefit department.
Please remember, if you are entitled to housing benefit you must:
- Get your claim form to the council on time.
- Give them all the information they need to assess your claim, such as details of rent, service charges, proof of all income and savings, and personal identification - otherwise they won't pay.
- Tell the council if your situation changes.
You can ask the council to pay your housing benefit entitlement direct to us
If you are a leaseholder, you may be able to claim help with your service charges from The Pension Service or JobcentrePlus.
How do I know which service charges apply to me?
We will normally write to you every year with details of the service charge you need to pay. These charges will be for services you received in the previous financial year. If we introduce a new service charge or substantially change an existing service charge, we will consult you and give you at least 30 days' written notice.
How are service charges calculated?
Generally the total cost of providing a service is divided by the number of properties sharing the communal facilities. The exception to this may be when flats and houses share the same estate costs but have different maintenance costs.
Service charges are worked out annually. Every March, a statement of expenditure for the previous year (January to December) is prepared. This will show whether costs have exceeded the service charge for that year and explain how the new service charge for the current year (January to December) is calculated. If costs have exceeded the amount taken in service charges, then the next year's service charge will increase to allow for this. The service charge will also increase in line with inflation and with other known cost increases such as fuel. If the account shows a surplus of money this will be used to reduce the next year's charge, or carried forward to prevent any large increases in the future.
Sinking funds - for leaseholders of flats only
A sinking fund operates for leaseholders and flats where money is set aside for anticipated future expenditure of items which may include fittings such as the door entry system and lift components but may also include future repairs to the structure of the building.
What can I do if I think the service charges are unreasonable?
If you believe that your service charge is unreasonable or you require further explanation as to how a sum was calculated, please do let us know so we can investigate this.
You can also contact your local Citizens' Advice Bureau, a Law Centre or a solicitor for advice, or call the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.
