Annual service charge

How much you pay depends on the services you receive. These depend on: 

• the type of property you own
• the layout of your estate
• the terms of your lease if you're a leaseholder
• the terms of your transfer of freehold if you have a freehold house on a Southwark council estate

You can see a breakdown of services and cost on your invoice.

When a service is provided to both your building and estate you'll see a separate breakdown for each.

Cost by property size

We assume that each property has 4 basic rooms (we call them units) – bathroom, kitchen, living room and hallway.

We then add on the number of bedrooms. For example a:

• 1 bed property has 5 units
• 3 bed property has 7 units

We then divide the cost of providing services to a building or estate by the total number of units in the block or estate. This gives a cost per unit.

This is multiplied by the number of units in your property. This gives the cost for your property.

This means that the owner of a 3 bed flat will pay more than the owner of a 1 bed flat in the same block.

When we charge from

We work out your charge from the date you bought the property.

If you bought from another leaseholder it's your responsibility to check with the previous owner about any charges or credits.