Understanding ground rent, service charges and shared costs
Even as a homeowner, you may still be responsible for certain charges, such as ground rent, service charges, or shared maintenance costs.
This section explains what these charges cover, how they are calculated, and what to do if you have questions or concerns.
Our aim is to help you understand your responsibilities, stay informed about any changes, and feel confident managing the financial aspects of owning your home.
Your rent and service charge (if applicable) is due monthly in advance on the first day of the month. It is your responsibility to ensure that it is being paid on time even when claiming benefits. If your charges are not paid by the 14th of the month then your account is classed as being in arrears.
Direct Debit is our preferred payment method. It is the simplest way to ensure your rent is paid on time. If you are a shared owner this can be set up via the online portal MyHomeOnline, which gives you 24-hour access to your account. For leaseholder’s, please contact your Income Officer.
For some shared owners rent increases are calculated using February RPI, as this figure isn’t released until late March there isn’t enough time to amend direct debits to take affect from 1 April, we will therefore add the additional charge to May’s direct debit and then from June it will drop to the usual monthly amount. If this is likely to cause you an issue, please contact your Income Officer to agree a payment plan.
We can work with you to set up a manageable payment plan and connect you with our Money Matters team. Our priority is to help you stay in your home and find a solution that works for you. Please note that this support is currently available only to shared owners, and we are not able to offer the same assistance to leaseholders at this time.
It’s important to know that if rent and service charges remain unpaid and agreements aren’t kept, we may need to take legal action to recover the outstanding balance. This could impact your credit rating, and any legal costs may be added to your debt. Additionally, if your lease states it, interest may be charged on overdue payments.
Your service charge statement includes a breakdown of costs, but here is a summary of typical areas where charges apply:
- Administration: Staff costs for customer service, repairs, finance, and related services, including account preparation, training, legal advice, IT systems, office space, site visits, communications, and consultation on major works.
- Bin hire: Costs for bin hire.
- Building insurance: Insurance covering repairs or rebuilding after incidents such as fire or water damage.
- Bulk refuse: Removal of bulk refuse and fly‑tipping.
- Cleaning: Cleaning and litter removal in communal areas, including stairs, landings, lifts, windows, and bin stores.
- Communal repairs: Repairs to communal areas, excluding planned maintenance or major works.
- Door entry: Maintenance and repair of the door entry system.
- Electricity (communal): Electricity for lifts, lighting, and entry systems in communal areas.
- Fire alarms & equipment: Servicing and maintenance of fire alarms, smoke alarms, emergency lighting, and fire extinguishers.
- Fire risk assessment: Legally required assessments of communal areas, with costs varying by building and assessment level.
- Gas (communal): Maintenance of communal heating equipment, such as boilers and Heat Interface Units (HIUs).
- Gate entry: Maintenance and servicing of communal gate systems.
- Grounds maintenance: Maintenance of external communal areas, including green spaces, shrubs, and parking areas.
- Health and safety: Services relating to health and safety for the building or estate.
- Lifts: Regular servicing and maintenance of lifts.
- PAT testing: Testing of portable appliances and fixed wiring in communal areas.
- Pest control: Prevention and treatment of pests in communal areas.
- Reserve fund: Funds for future major works, such as roof replacement.
- Third‑party managing agent fee: Costs for external agents managing services or works.
- Tree works: Pruning and lopping of communal trees.
- Water: Water supply for cleaning bin stores, windows, and grounds maintenance.
- Water hygiene: Testing of water supplies and systems to prevent Legionella.
- Water pumps: Servicing and maintenance of water pumps.
- Window cleaning: Cleaning of external communal windows.
If you have any questions about your service charge bill, please contact us. We will acknowledge your query by letter or email and provide an estimated timeframe for our response.
The time it takes to resolve your query depends on its complexity, but we aim to address most issues within four weeks. If it takes longer, we will keep you informed. Some queries may take more time, especially if they involve multiple years, if we are not the freeholder, or if they relate to several service charge items.
If we find an error, we will apply a credit adjustment to your account within ten working days of making our decision.