Council tenants

You may have to pay service charges in addition to your rent each week. These are charges towards the cost of looking after your housing, and will show separately on your rent advice.

Service charges can be for:

• caretaking services
• concierge services

Other charges include:

• garage rent
• heating charge
• water charge
• home contents insurance

New service charges from October 2017

From Monday 2 October 2017, you may also be charged for:

• lift maintenance and repair
• secure door entry
• heating and lighting in communal areas

You will only be charged for services you receive. If you don't receive a service, you won't be charged for it – for example, if you live in a block without lifts, you will not be charged for a lift.

Weekly service charge amounts

Caretaking and concierge charges depend on service hours and the types of service provided.

Service provided	Weekly charge
Caretaking	Between 56p and £13.44
Concierge	Between £30.98 and £33.40

New service charges from Monday 2 October 2017 are:

Service provided	Weekly charge
Lift maintenance	£1.05
Door entry system	£1.11
Communal electricity	49p

A proposed charge for grounds maintenance has been suspended while a review of the charge takes place.

Communal electricity charges at Bruyns Court will continue to be included in a combined charge with other facilities and not charged separately.

The weekly charges above do not apply to tenants in sheltered housing.

Sheltered housing service charges

From 2 October 2017, there will be a weekly service charge for all tenants in sheltered housing.

Sheltered housing tenants who currently pay a service charge of £8 each week will continue to be charged this amount, with no increase, until April 2019.

Sheltered housing tenants	Weekly charge from October 2017	Weekly charge from April 2018	Weekly charge from April 2019
Those paying a weekly charge of £8 before October 2017	£8	£8	£10
Those not paying a weekly charge before October 2017	£5	£8	£10

Advice letter

If you have to pay new service charges from October 2017, we will have sent you a letter called a "Notice of Variation".

The letter tells you all about the changes. A section called "rent advice" sets out exactly which charges apply to your property and how much you will have to pay.

Paying your rent and charges

You must pay services charges with your regular rent payment. There are a number of easy ways to pay your rent – go to how to pay your rent and charges.

Help to manage your money

Services charges can be included in your Housing Benefit claim if you receive Housing Benefits.

If you don't qualify for Housing Benefit because your income is slightly above the required amount needed to be eligible, you may re-apply when your service charge amounts change and include the new amount in the overall rent for your claim.

If you have difficulties paying your rent and charges, we can talk with you about your budget and give advice to help you make sure you can pay – go to difficulties with your rent.