Understanding service charge statements

Each year, we let you know in advance what your rent and service charges for the coming year will be. Your service charge statement is made up of five columns that show you the type of service you are charged for, how much you have been paying for these services, and how much you will be charged this year. It will look something like this:

Sample service charge statement

Each year, we estimate how much it will cost to deliver the services you receive and divide the cost fairly between the properties in your block. Your service charge estimate shows the amount you are required to pay.

 

Which service charges do I receive?

The first column, named ‘Service Provided’, lists all the possible services you may be charged for. If you do not receive these services, the amount listed in the charge columns will be £0.00. You are only charged for services you receive.

Service charge statement column 1 - services

 

Why are there multiple columns relating to the current year's costs? 

The three middle columns on your statement show:

  • How much you have been paying for service charges. We calculated this charge based on an estimate of how much the services typically cost us to deliver and what our contractors, like Mears, think it will cost them to deliver the service.
  • What the service really cost us to deliver.
  • The difference between our estimated charge and the real costs. If there is £0.00 variance, it cost what we estimated it would. If there is a minus sign in front of a figure, it cost less than we estimated. If there is no minus sign in front of a figure, that is how much more it cost than we estimated.

Sample service charge statement - current year weekly costs

What are brought forward service charge variance adjustments?

If there was a difference between how much we estimated the services you received would cost and how much they actually cost, the difference will be added to this year's charges. Your total charge can go up or down as a result. You will see a line on your statement named 'brought forward service charge variance adjustment', that shows how much was added to or taken away from your charges last year and how much is being added to or taken away from your charges this year. 

In this example, previously 14p was taken off the total charge. For the coming year, 11p will be added to the total charge: 

 Sample service charge statement - column headings

Sample service charge statement - weekly variance line

How much do I need pay from April? 

The final column, named ‘New Weekly Service Charge’ shows what you must pay for each charge this year. This charge may go up or down depending on a wide range of considerations; for example, the cost of materials, changes to health and safety laws, how much work is needed.

Sample service charge statement - new weekly charge column

The grand total, at the bottom of your service charge statement, adds together your eligible and ineligible charges and shows the overall weekly charges that you are responsible for paying this year.

Sample service charge statement - grand total

Can I claim Universal Credit or Housing Benfit for service charges?

Charges are split into two categories:

HB eligible – these charges can be included in your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit claim. You are responsible for ensuring these charges are paid if your benefit contribution does not cover them in full.

HB ineligible – these charges will not be considered as part of the calculation for your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit claim. You are responsible for paying these charges.

Charges in each of these categories are listed in separate tables within your service charge statement. 

You can check how much you are required to pay each week for eligible and ineligible charges by looking at the weekly total lines at the bottom of each table. The amount in the final column is how much you will need to pay this year:

sample service charge statement - charge sub totals