As a leaseholder you are required to pay ground rent and service charges, as detailed in your lease agreement. The service charge is a payment towards the cost of providing services to you and your property. The service charge is calculated to ensure that you are charged a fair and reasonable proportion of the cost of providing each service.

As a shared owner you are required to pay rent for the part of the property still in our ownership, together with any service charges, as detailed in your lease agreement. The service charge is a payment towards the cost of providing services as prescribed under the terms of your lease. The service charge is calculated to ensure that you are charged a fair and reasonable proportion of the cost of providing each service.

As a freeholder you are required to pay service charges, as detailed in your transfer document. The service charge is a payment towards the cost of providing services as prescribed under the terms of your lease. The service charge is calculated to ensure that you are charged a fair and reasonable proportion of the cost of providing each service.

Each year we set our service charges using estimated figures. These are  based on what we expect the service to cost us. We will write to you in February each year to confirm your estimated service charge for the upcoming financial year.

The estimated service charges are due to be paid by you from April to March. At the end of each financial year, we will carry out a recalculation of the actual cost of providing each service to you.

When the recalculation is complete we will issue you with a certified annual service charge account. This shows how much you have been charged during the previous financial year, together with details of the actual cost of providing the services to you. This recalculation will produce a balancing figure, which will be added to your rent and service charge account. It should be noted that the balancing figure may show either an under or over charge.

If you don’t agree with your service charge or feel that the charge is unreasonable please speak to our Leasehold and Service Charge Team who will explain in more detail what the charge is for and try to address your concerns.

You can get independent advice at any time from LEASE – the Leasehold Advisory Service who are funded by the Government to provide free legal advice to leaseholders and landlords. 

If you still think your service charge is unreasonable or unfair you can appeal to the First Tier Tribunal of the Property Chamber who will hear your case and decide whether the charge you pay is fair or not.

You can apply to the First Tier Tribunal by clicking here. A link to application forms can be found on the Leasehold Advisory Service website.