The information below explains your rent and service charges.
How is my rent calculated?
Your lease sets out the formula for reviewing the rent that you pay on the proportion of your home which is owned by the housing association.
Rent is adjusted by the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation in the previous September (or otherwise stipulated in your lease), plus 0.5%.
Rent is adjusted annually, in April and we will write to you before then, setting out your new rent and service charges.
What is a service charge?
A service charge is a payment towards the cost of communal areas and services outside your home. We do not make any profit from service charges and you only pay for the services you receive.
These are examples of services which may be covered by these charges:
- Employing a caretaker
- Cleaning shared areas and removing rubbish
- Looking after communal gardens, including cutting the grass
- Repairing shared facilities like door entry systems, lifts and lighting
- Fire safety, including repairing and testing smoke alarms in entry areas, stairways and corridors
- Buildings insurance
- Sinking/Reserve fund
Where we provide a service that is shared by a number of customers, the amount that we charge is the total cost of that service is typically divided by the number of tenants who benefit from it.
Chargeable services and facilities together with the apportionment of costs for which you are responsible are detailed in your lease.
We write to shared owners setting out service charges payable from April each year, based on the estimated cost to provide these services and facilities.
