Service charges and payment arrangements for leasehold properties
The lessee of a flat or maisonette must pay a service charge for services received, for repair, maintenance and improvements to the building and for the landlord's insurance and management costs.
The council is your landlord. Your lease will detail your liability for service charges and when payments have to be made.
The annual service charge will be set each year in April and charged monthly in advance.
Service charges
Leaseholders pay a service charge to cover their share of the cost of the repairs and maintenance as well as improvements to the building. Examples of maintenance include:
- cleaning of communal areas
- grounds maintenance
- communal electricity
- digital TV network
- communal heating
- management costs
- building insurance
- day-to-day repairs
Find a list of the fill service pages and an explanation of each charge in our guidance document.
Making payments
We recommend you use Direct Debit because it is a secure and reliable way to make payments. There are a number of other payment options for leaseholders.
If you do not pay your service charge we can take action against you, and if you still do not pay, we can apply for a Forfeiture Order to repossess your home.Contact us immediately for debt help and advice.
How costs are worked out
If all flats or maisonettes in a building were sold we would recover 100% of the costs of managing and maintaining the common parts of the building. If you're the only purchaser in the building then you pay your share of the costs and the remainder is paid through tenants' rents.
Service charges are calculated on the basis of our financial year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March.
You'll receive a service charge statement after the end of each financial year (between July and September) and this will identify exactly what costs have been incurred on your property.
We will try to ensure that the estimated service charges reflect the likely costs when the actual charge is calculated at the year-end.
If the estimated charge was too high and you have therefore overpaid the council then a BACS transfer or credit adjustment will be made to you.
If you have not paid enough you will receive another invoice for the balance.