Homeownership service charges

Your service charge covers our services, building insurance for your property and a management fee.

You pay a variable service charge, which can change yearly based on the 'actual' costs. You pay the charges in arrears and are charged for the actual cost of the services at the end of the year.

We calculate your service charge by comparing the services' cost in the previous financial year and charging you a reasonable proportion of the costs of those services. 

Actual service charges

These are the actual costs for the services you received in the previous financial year, we do not provide estimated costs. Every April, you will be sent an invoice and charged for works or services undertaken previously (financial year - 1 April to 31 March).

Our responsibility as a landlord

Our responsibilities for service charges include:

  • telling you how we work out service charges and the various ways you can pay and giving you advice/help if you fall behind with payments
  • giving you an invoice for your service charges every year clearly stating the services you're being charged for
  • providing major works account statements on request
  • making sure your property has building insurance (you are responsible for insuring your home contents)

Our responsibilities for accounts include:

  • providing a service charge account statement on request
  • contacting you within 28 days if your account falls into arrears
  • agreeing to reduce arrears via a payment plan and explaining the payment options available to you

Building insurance

As your landlord, we provide building insurance for your leasehold or shared ownership property in case of accidental loss, destruction or damage to the block from fire, a flood or an earthquake.

Building insurance is an annual charge based on the cost of rebuilding your property, and we recharge this to you.

To read a summary of the building insurance cover, please see our webpage document leaseholder summary of cover.

Please be aware that building insurance doesn't cover your belongings. You'll need to buy contents insurance to cover any damage or theft of your belongings.

If you sublet your property, you're not covered for loss of rent in case of an emergency.

Management fee

We charge a management fee to provide you with the following services:

  • inspecting the property to check condition and deal with any necessary repairs
  • periodic health and safety checks but not specialist checks and tests
  • holding annual meetings with residents
  • regular visits of neighbourhood services officers
  • preparing and distributing service charges
  • maintaining your service charge account
  • accounting for service charges before examination by an independent accountant
  • providing management information to residents
     

Your management fee is a fixed amount of £130 per annum

As well as any mortgage costs, leaseholders are responsible for paying:

  • costs to run their home, including electric, gas, water and Council Tax bills
  • home contents insurance
  • the cost of any internal repairs and replacement of fixtures and fittings (for example, new kitchens or bathrooms)
  • a share of the cost of any major repair or improvement works to the building, including re-roofing, new gutters, and replacement of lifts
  • the cost of maintenance and repair to communal heating systems if your block has one

Major repair or improvement works may cost several thousand pounds, and as a leaseholder, you may be required to pay a significant amount towards any work we decide is necessary.

We will consult with all leaseholders in the building if:

  • proposed major works will cost a leaseholder more than £250 per home
  • new service contracts will cost a leaseholder more than £100 per year

You can view more information about this under our section 20 guidance page.

If you want to know more about a particular charge, including what it's for or how we have calculated it, please email leasehold@arun.gov.uk

How to pay

Online

Pay leaseholder charges

Direct Debit

To set up a Direct Debit, print and complete our leasehold Direct Debit mandate form [pdf] 125KB. The return address can be found on the form.

Bank transfer or standing order

Use your leaseholder account number as the reference
(10 digit number starting with 9)

Name of organisation: Arun District Council

Bank name: Lloyds Bank

Sort code: 30 80 12

Bank account number: 14615968

Problems paying

We are here to help. Please contact us as soon as possible on 01903 737846 or by email at leasehold@arun.gov.uk so we can discuss your situation.

We also have a page dedicated to debt advice which you may find helpful.

If you don't pay your service charge

Paying your service charge should be a top priority from your outgoings.

If your service charge is not paid and you do not engage with us, we will follow our leasehold arrears policy which could result in:

  • further costs being passed on to you
  • contact with your mortgage lender
  • as a final sanction, forfeiture of your lease

These actions are not taken lightly, so you should contact us as soon as possible if you are having financial problems so we can work with you.

Further information

Please see our service charges additional information for homeowners page.