Challenge a Housing Association Service Charge?

DaveyCee

Hi,

My housing association currently charge me £32pm service charge for our communal gardens. I moved in during July '24. They've only visited on 7 occasions during the last 7 months for approx 9 hours of work in total during that time. Some of the work wasn't even completed properly. They essentially cut the grass, trim the hedges and bushes and not much more. They once cleared the car park of fallen leaves.

When I was first rehoused here I was already aware from previous months that they didn't show up often enough, so I challenged this amount and requested that I do the gardening around my own property myself. They refused and told me I had to pay. My neighbour, who has been here 15yrs, told me she doesn't pay a service charge. I'm not sure if any of the other 12 neighbours pay it as it feels quite awkward to ask.

Can I challenge this amount again and what is the best way to do so?

I have already quietly refused to pay the full amount during this last 6 months as I think this is a scandal - £300 for 9hrs work, so I've been paying only £8 per week for the service received, when it's received. The payment is included in my monthly rent and not separate, so they are currently unaware.

Any advice would be appreciated

TheSpectator

So if it's included in your rent then are you not technically in arrears of rent? I'm sure I don't need to explain the risks if thats the case.

Did your tenancy agreement state the charge?

Emmia

DaveyCee said:

Hi,

My housing association currently charge me £32pm service charge for our communal gardens. I moved in during July '24. They've only visited on 7 occasions during the last 7 months for approx 9 hours of work in total during that time. Some of the work wasn't even completed properly. They essentially cut the grass, trim the hedges and bushes and not much more. They once cleared the car park of fallen leaves.

When I was first rehoused here I was already aware from previous months that they didn't show up often enough, so I challenged this amount and requested that I do the gardening around my own property myself. They refused and told me I had to pay. My neighbour, who has been here 15yrs, told me she doesn't pay a service charge. I'm not sure if any of the other 12 neighbours pay it as it feels quite awkward to ask.

Can I challenge this amount again and what is the best way to do so?

I have already quietly refused to pay the full amount during this last 6 months as I think this is a scandal - £300 for 9hrs work, so I've been paying only £8 per week for the service received, when it's received. The payment is included in my monthly rent and not separate, so they are currently unaware.

Any advice would be appreciated

I'll be surprised if they remain unaware long term.

Hopefully you've got the money you've not paid tucked away somewhere for when they inevitably ask for the arrears.

DaveyCee

TheSpectator said:

So if it's included in your rent then are you not technically in arrears of rent? I'm sure I don't need to explain the risks if thats the case.

Did your tenancy agreement state the charge?

My tenancy agreement states the rent charge and maintenance charge separately from each other, but are added together as a full amount when I have to pay every month. (I pay it manually online, not by DD).

I have been paying the rent side of it, but I've started to withhold the service charge, because I think it's unfair that I'm having to pay £32pm for 1hr of (bad) work. Therefore my rent does show that I'm in arrears of £32 each month I don't pay it.  This is obviously accumulating the longer I hold off. 

I do have the money set aside to reimburse this if I need to, but I feel frustrated and annoyed that they are essentially asking me for £32pm maintenance for not doing the work to justify the extortionate cost.

I did challenge it when I first moved in, but they told me I had to keep paying, and like I said previously, I don't know if any other neighbours pay this fee themselves. I know one that certainly doesn't. If the other neighbours (x10) are being charged the same as me the Housing Association are pocketing approx £300+ pm for 1hr of work in the communal garden.

That's £3,000 for 12-15hrs work over the year! (If you follow the trend).

Surely there is something fundamentally wrong here, no?

Emmia

DaveyCee said:

TheSpectator said:

So if it's included in your rent then are you not technically in arrears of rent? I'm sure I don't need to explain the risks if thats the case.

Did your tenancy agreement state the charge?

My tenancy agreement states the rent charge and maintenance charge separately from each other, but are added together as a full amount when I have to pay every month. (I pay it manually online, not by DD).

I have been paying the rent side of it, but I've started to withhold the service charge, because I think it's unfair that I'm having to pay £32pm for 1hr of (bad) work. Therefore my rent does show that I'm in arrears of £32 each month I don't pay it.  This is obviously accumulating the longer I hold off. 

I do have the money set aside to reimburse this if I need to, but I feel frustrated and annoyed that they are essentially asking me for £32pm maintenance for not doing the work to justify the extortionate cost.

I did challenge it when I first moved in, but they told me I had to keep paying, and like I said previously, I don't know if any other neighbours pay this fee themselves. I know one that certainly doesn't. If the other neighbours (x10) are being charged the same as me the Housing Association are pocketing approx £3000+ pm for 1hr of work in the communal garden.

That's £30,000 for 12-15hrs work over the year! (If you follow the trend).

Surely there is something fundamentally wrong here, no?

I have some sympathy, but the charges are those you've arguably agreed to pay, by the act of moving in.

I think your choices are to a) pay them b) move elsewhere.

Are you sure the charges only cover the gardening, and are not also going into a sinking fund for bigger (less frequent) maintenance, for example works on the roofs/windows etc. 

The alternative to a sinking fund is presenting people with a huge bill when those works take place - which has to be paid by the occupants at the time irrespective of how long they've lived there.

DaveyCee

Emmia said:

DaveyCee said:

TheSpectator said:

So if it's included in your rent then are you not technically in arrears of rent? I'm sure I don't need to explain the risks if thats the case.

Did your tenancy agreement state the charge?

My tenancy agreement states the rent charge and maintenance charge separately from each other, but are added together as a full amount when I have to pay every month. (I pay it manually online, not by DD).

I have been paying the rent side of it, but I've started to withhold the service charge, because I think it's unfair that I'm having to pay £32pm for 1hr of (bad) work. Therefore my rent does show that I'm in arrears of £32 each month I don't pay it.  This is obviously accumulating the longer I hold off. 

I do have the money set aside to reimburse this if I need to, but I feel frustrated and annoyed that they are essentially asking me for £32pm maintenance for not doing the work to justify the extortionate cost.

I did challenge it when I first moved in, but they told me I had to keep paying, and like I said previously, I don't know if any other neighbours pay this fee themselves. I know one that certainly doesn't. If the other neighbours (x10) are being charged the same as me the Housing Association are pocketing approx £3000+ pm for 1hr of work in the communal garden.

That's £30,000 for 12-15hrs work over the year! (If you follow the trend).

Surely there is something fundamentally wrong here, no?

I have some sympathy, but the charges are those you've arguably agreed to pay, by the act of moving in.

I think your choices are to a) pay them b) move elsewhere.

Are you sure the charges only cover the gardening, and are not also going into a sinking fund for bigger (less frequent) maintenance, for example works on the roofs/windows etc. 

The alternative to a sinking fund is presenting people with a huge bill when those works take place - which has to be paid by the occupants at the time irrespective of how long they've lived there.

Service charges only cover the communal garden - Grass cutting, hedges, bushes.

£32 x 1hr work x 10 = £320pm = £3200py.

£320 per month for 1 hour of work. And they didn't show up in August or December.

Surely as a people we can challenge this?

I can ask my local MP to look into it.

Emmia

DaveyCee said:

Emmia said:

DaveyCee said:

TheSpectator said:

So if it's included in your rent then are you not technically in arrears of rent? I'm sure I don't need to explain the risks if thats the case.

Did your tenancy agreement state the charge?

My tenancy agreement states the rent charge and maintenance charge separately from each other, but are added together as a full amount when I have to pay every month. (I pay it manually online, not by DD).

I have been paying the rent side of it, but I've started to withhold the service charge, because I think it's unfair that I'm having to pay £32pm for 1hr of (bad) work. Therefore my rent does show that I'm in arrears of £32 each month I don't pay it.  This is obviously accumulating the longer I hold off. 

I do have the money set aside to reimburse this if I need to, but I feel frustrated and annoyed that they are essentially asking me for £32pm maintenance for not doing the work to justify the extortionate cost.

I did challenge it when I first moved in, but they told me I had to keep paying, and like I said previously, I don't know if any other neighbours pay this fee themselves. I know one that certainly doesn't. If the other neighbours (x10) are being charged the same as me the Housing Association are pocketing approx £3000+ pm for 1hr of work in the communal garden.

That's £30,000 for 12-15hrs work over the year! (If you follow the trend).

Surely there is something fundamentally wrong here, no?

I have some sympathy, but the charges are those you've arguably agreed to pay, by the act of moving in.

I think your choices are to a) pay them b) move elsewhere.

Are you sure the charges only cover the gardening, and are not also going into a sinking fund for bigger (less frequent) maintenance, for example works on the roofs/windows etc. 

The alternative to a sinking fund is presenting people with a huge bill when those works take place - which has to be paid by the occupants at the time irrespective of how long they've lived there.

Service charges only cover the communal garden - Grass cutting, hedges, bushes.

£32 x 1hr work x 10 = £320pm = £3200py.

£320 per month for 1 hour of work. And they didn't show up in August or December.

Surely as a people we can challenge this?

I can ask my local MP to look into it.

You've signed a contract requiring you to pay these charges. This is the downside of any kind of leasehold arrangement.

We live in/own a leasehold flat and spent £12k last year to replace and maintain windows and doors on our flat that are really the responsibility of the freeholder. We replaced them as they were rotten, insecure and didn't work. Maintenance on our building is done every 10 years, and there is no sinking fund so this year we've paid another £12k for our share of maintenance including repainting (which will include our windows) - the windows in the flat upstairs are obviously rotten, and should be replaced but I expect they'll just slap paint on them rather than replacing.

In my opinion, maintenance needs to be done more frequently to avoid this and keep things in reasonable order. We have no choice in paying the £12k share as it is part of our lease requirements.

Have you asked the managing company why the charges are so high for the work done? Or complained about the quality of the work for the cost?