Service Charges

These are the costs of items or services that you share with the other people in your block. Some of these will be health & safety checks such as fire extinguishers or emergency lights. Others might be items that improve your communal areas or the building’s facilities i.e. cleaning, laundry facilities or a communal TV aerial.

This could also be communal electricity which would include all the lights in the hallways and around the block. It would also include heating for shared radiators located in communal areas in the building.

Services which relate to a block or estate will be calculated using fair methods to share the costs between all residents. For example, if we pay for lift servicing for a block of flats the cost incurred will be split evenly between all flats in the block, this applies even if:

• The tenant/ leaseholder does not use the service (for example a customer that lives in a ground floor flat or that uses the stairs instead)
• Some of the flats are owned privately or by another housing provider
• The resident in the property does not pay service charges

Laundry facilities are one example of a communal service that is recharged to tenants and leaseholders, even if you choose not to use them.

We have a responsibility to clean and maintain our blocks and estates. The cost of this work is then recharged via the service charge.

As your landlord, it’s our responsibility to maintain the areas where our customers live, including the external communal green areas in certain locations.

The fixed asset replacement fund is a fund that is paid into by the residents of the building. It is used to cover the cost of major repairs and the replacement of building systems (for example door entry systems).

Rather than facing large, unexpected bills when major works are needed, this fund allows the cost to be spread out over time through regular contributions.

Examples of what the fund may cover include (but are not limited to):

• Lift replacement/ repair
• Door entry systems
• TV Aerials/ satellite
• Emergency lights
• Smoke detectors
• Cyclical decoration

A Section 20 notice refers to a legal notice we issue under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It is a two or three-step process that we use when we plan to carry out major works or enter into long-term agreements (i.e. contracts lasting more than 12 months) that our leaseholders will be required to contribute towards. You can find more information here.

We operate a 3-year variable service charge model because at the start of the financial year not all costs are known for the full year, especially those based on usage i.e. communal electric or unexpected repairs. This means we use estimated costs for the current year which allows us to effectively plan, manage and recover costs to pay for regular services like cleaning, grounds maintenance and communal electric. We calculate our estimated costs based on:

• Previous years actuals
• Supplier contracts
• Anticipated inflation

Once the financial year has ended and actual costs are confirmed, we compare them against our original estimates. Any overpayments or underpayments for the 2025/26 period will be adjusted in your 2027/28 service charge statement.

This adjustment appears in the 2027/28 statement because the actual costs for 2025/26 are not finalised until after March 2026 when we have received all the invoices from our suppliers. We are required to issue the 2026/27 service charge statement to tenants and leaseholders at least one month before the start of the new financial year, meaning the actual costs for 2025/26 are not available in time for inclusion in the 2026/27 statement.

If a service is temporarily paused, the charge will not be adjusted in the same year. Any refund resulting from variable charges calculations will be issued in future years.

If a service is permanently withdrawn, the charge will be stopped at the date the service is withdrawn, and any overpayments will be refunded.

We will update your direct debit, so you do not need to take any action.

Service charges cannot be opted out of – they cover the cost of services included in your lease or tenancy agreement. These charges help us manage and maintain your building and keep shared areas in good condition. 

If you receive Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, you’ll get help towards the cost. If you’re finding it hard to pay or your circumstances have changed, our Money Support team is here to help.

If you are unsure about a service charge, talk to us first.
We can help you understand what the charge is for and whether it applies to you.

If you still want to challenge it, you can ask the First-tier Tribunal to decide whether you need to pay. You can do this before or after you have paid the charge. The Tribunal can decide:

• Whether the service charge is payable
• Who should pay it and who it should be paid to
• The amount
• When it should be paid
• How it should be paid

Please note: there is an application fee, and if the case goes to an in person hearing, there’s an additional hearing fee unless you qualify for a fee reduction or exemption.

The cost of providing a service must be shared fairly between all the homes in the block, street or estate. To do this we take the cost and divide it equally between all properties in the block/ street/ estate who are eligible to pay that certain charge.

Charges may fluctuate between properties in the same block/ street/ estate if:

You can check your rent type in the my Livin App under the account transactions section.

• If you are on an affordable rent tenancy, your weekly rent charge will be listed as affordable rent
• If you are on a social rent tenancy, it will appear as rent

This can help you understand whether service charges apply to your tenancy, as our affordable rent tenancies are not charged service charges.  

Affordable rent tenancies were introduced by the government and apply to a proportion of our properties. Rent is initially set at up to 80% of the local market rent, including any service charges.

We calculate the initial affordable rent at 80% of the local market rent and therefore cannot apply any service charges on top.