Service charges

beqasopi

Hi Can any one help me . I bought a councill flat on right to buy, however i am being charged 1,300 a year Service charges plus £90 :money: month council taxwould really appreciate any advice

djm1972

Hi,

£1300 per annum is on the high side, but not unheard of, particularly if there is a lift in the block. You should receive a budget report showing how the service charge has been used.

This should cover all aspects of keeping the communal areas clean and tidy and regularly maintained and tended to. Our service charge comes to around £1000 per annum, and during the summer there are 2 caretakers on our estate almost permanently looking after the gardens, and cleaning the communal areas and bin stores etc.

Council tax is of course a separate issue, but again £90 per month (you are probably only paying this over 10 months) doesn't sound unreasonable. Check of course that you are claiming any discounts that you may be entitled to...

jennynoo

My service charge is just £20 per month but it only covers the buildings insurance and I think lighting in the hallway. If anything needs doing to the communal parts we have to pay and split it between the four flats in our building.

jennynoo

Your solicitor when you bought the flat should have told you what the service charge would be. I'm still waiting to hear from my council exactly what mine covers, i moved in in November but they still haven't written to me.

I'm in Lambeth, in a 2 bedroom flat, band C, and pay around £90 per month council tax.

clutton_2

i pay £12 pcm for a one bedroomed flat in a block of 6 (no lift)

cattie

I've recently been looking at flats in private blocks with a view to downsizing from my house soon & the average service charge for a flat in these well maintained developments is between £1000-£1200 per year.

Ex council flats are notorious for high service/maintenance charges, but in the scheme of things yours doesn't sound too ott for ex council. Also often with ex council the service charge will be estimated and any adjustment made at the end of the financial year, so you may actually end up in credit when they send you a statement.

mstar

hello everyone, i have a VERY high cost for service charge, by law can i ask the managing agents to give me a full break-down of the cost of the appartment block and how they have proportioned it to my appartment?
AM i within my rights?

olly300

mstar wrote:

hello everyone, i have a VERY high cost for service charge, by law can i ask the managing agents to give me a full break-down of the cost of the appartment block and how they have proportioned it to my appartment?
AM i within my rights?

Yep. Have a look at http://www.lease-advice.org/

By the way I seen flats with service charges of over £2,000 per year. Some of these flats had extensive grounds, where undergoing building work and/or had a porter. There as others I couldn't work out what the money was spend on. So anything around £1,000 is reasonable for a well maintained flat.

mstar

hi olly thanks for that i just think 1600 a year is a lot and i think its good to just check what i am paying for? not sure if i am wasting my time but has anyone gone down this route and found they where paying too much/less???

beqasopi

beqasopi wrote:

Hi Can any one help me . I bought a councill flat on right to buy, however i am being charged 1,300 a year Service charges plus £90 :money: month council taxwould really appreciate any advice

Thanks so much for the advice