Annual service charge

This charge is for the cleaning and upkeep of external and internal communal areas like:

• balconies

• corridors

• lifts

• estate walkways

The cost is based on the hours the contractors spend cleaning your building and/or estate. 

It also includes the cost of waste containers and multi-level collection which is not included in your regular council waste collection.

We show separate charges for your building and estate in your billing pack.

Your housing services office or tenant management organisation (TMO) monitors the standard of cleaning. 

They have regular meetings with cleaning managers and residents to resolve any issues raised by residents.

This charge is for maintaining communal land on estates including:

• flowerbeds

• grassed areas

• tree maintenance

The cost is based on the hours the contractors spend maintaining your estate. 

Your housing services office or TMO monitors standards.

This charge covers the cost of:

• maintaining lamp columns

• light bulb replacements 

• electricity that supplies all the lighting, including to entrance halls, balconies, stairwells and on the estate grounds

• unexpected testing of electrical supply equipment 

We estimate the cost of electricity based on the latest bills paid, plus extra to include market rate increases. 

This charge covers the cost of a communal television aerial to your building if you have one.

We estimate the cost based on an adjusted average cost over the previous 3 years.

If you have a door entryphone this charge covers the cost of repairing and maintaining it. It may also include estimated refurbishment costs.

We estimate the cost based on an adjusted average cost over the previous 3 years. 

We provide heating and hot water to some properties. 

A heating charge is based on the cost of running the boiler house and plant rooms that serve a property. 

The charge is based on:

• the amount of gas used

•  gas and electricity costs based on the previous year’s bills paid

• repairs in the boiler house and heating and hot water systems in individual properties (reactive repairs)

• the annual contract cost for planned and preventative maintenance, like servicing of equipment

• an average of the previous 3 years’ adjusted repairs costs

• the cost of heating engineers and officers who manage the network heating contract (direct and indirect management costs) 

• an extra amount for any market rate increases

Our suppliers advise us on any market increases that they expect to see over the year.

Because of sharp increases in wholesale energy prices, most suppliers now charge the maximum allowed under the government’s domestic energy price cap. 

Although the rates we pay for gas have increased substantially, they're still well below the new energy price guarantee levels.

Our own heating engineers manage the heating contractors.

Estimating costs

We calculate how much to charge each property by:

• working out the costs of running the boiler and the plant linked to the boiler house for each estate

• dividing this figure between each property that receives heating and hot water from that boiler house

• proportionally split the cost of any repairs to heating pipes and radiators between all properties in the building

• taking into account whether your property has partial or full heating

We look after all lifts and make sure they work well. Lift charges are based on:

• maintenance costs

• an average of the previous 3 years’ adjusted repair costs to your building

Lift costs are made up of:

• annual planned and preventative maintenance measures so equipment is regularly serviced and in good condition
• costs that fall outside the main contract (reactive repairs)
• electricity costs that power the lifts
• lift monitoring (phones and alarms) and lift inspection as required by our lift insurance policy
• lift management and other overhead costs (lift monitoring engineers)

The first 4 costs are based on any lifts in your building.

The lift management and other overhead costs are divided across all lifts in the borough. 

How much you're charged depends on the size of your property.

We use a contracted company to maintain the lifts. Our current contract with them includes:

• a monthly maintenance check 

• allows for contractors to be paid for each call out

Our lift engineers monitor the performance of lift contractors.

We're legally required to make repairs to the structure and communal parts of a building or estate. This includes:

• maintenance of any water tanks

• pest control

It is not possible to predict the number or nature of repairs that will be necessary. 

We base the charge on an adjusted average of the previous 3 years’ costs. 

Water tanks and pest control costs are based on last year’s adjusted actual costs.

We also carry out cyclical works for repairs and work on estate roads and pathways. 

If this affects your building or estate we adjust the average costs to reflect the extra costs for this work.

You are responsible for any repairs to the internal parts of your home.

We insure leasehold properties and the building it is in against a range of risks under the terms of the lease.

If you own an underlease house you're responsible for arranging your own building insurance.

Our insurance premiums are from Protector Insurers. They usually base their rates for properties based on criteria like:

• number of bedrooms

• type of property

• height of building

Your estimated charge is based on:

• the previous year's amount

• inflation rates

• insurance premium tax payable to government

• any index linked increases

Buildings insurance does not cover your home contents. You need to get your own home insurance policy to protect your belongings.

Find out more

Find out what's covered by our [buildings insurance policy] (LINK), including what's covered and how to make a claim.  

Overhead costs

These are the direct and indirect management costs we incur when we provide each service.

It includes costs for:

• staff who manage the service (salaries)

• associated admin costs

Administration fee

We also charge a fee for any administration associated with your service charge account. 

This is 10% of the total of your service charge as outlined in your lease (3rd schedule). 

This fee covers costs including:

• staff and office costs for the administration of service charge accounts
• calculating, billing and collection of service charges
• providing information about your service charge account and general information on homeownership
• admin and IT costs of calculating and sending you invoices and accounting for payments made.

Tenant management organisations (TMOs) have a different arrangement for paying their administration costs.

If you own a flat or maisonette you need to pay a set annual fee for renting the ground that it sits on from the council. 

The amount you pay is set out in your lease.

If your home is managed by a TMO your charges are based on information provided by the TMO for services they provide. 

These services can include care and upkeep, grounds maintenance, estate lighting and repairs.

Estimate charges are based on:

• the actual costs of providing these services to your building and/or estate for the previous year

• plus a small increase for inflation