Annual rent review: April 2023

On estates where a third-party managing agent provides some or all of the services, we take the most recent budget from the agent as a basis for your charges.

For new estates (less than two years old) we estimate the cost of services based on third-party agent budgets, or using cost information for similar services provided elsewhere. We’ll increase these by a measure of inflation, or once the full costs of the estate become apparent.

Some services are provided by our own staff. For example, caretaking, we take the salary costs of those staff plus overheads, and apportion this based on an average number of hours at the block and/ or the estate.

Many services are provided by external contractors and the cost of these are recovered through the service charge. We take the most recent costs and increase by inflation.

Once an estimate for your service charge is calculated, this is applied to your account depending on the type of agreement you have with us.

Properties are also grouped into blocks or estates for dividing service charges. Service charges are divided or apportioned by several means, the most common being by the number of properties in the group, or by the sizes of the properties.

If you have a social rent tenancy, the breakdown of your service charges outlines the charge for services you receive that are not covered by your rent.

Your tenancy agreement may contain provisions that require Clarion Housing to provide you with a certificate of what was actually spent on services within six months of the end of the financial year: by 30 September.

If you’ve paid too much, or not enough, the difference will be carried over into the following year’s charges. These are often referred to as variable service charge tenancies.

If your tenancy agreement doesn’t contain any of the above provisions, this means that where we’ve underestimated charges in a particular year, we won’t be able to ask you to pay back the difference. Equally, if we’ve overestimated the charges, we won’t be able to refund you the difference. These are often referred to as fixed service charge tenancies.

If you have an affordable rent tenancy, any communal service charges will be included within your rent. Any personal charges, such as heating and hot water to your own home, personal electricity use or water, will be shown separately. These charges are not included within your rent.

If you’re a shared owner, leaseholder or freeholder, in line with your lease or transfer document, we’ll provide you with estimated service charges before the beginning of each financial year (1 April).

Normally, within six months of the end of the financial year (31 March), we’ll send you a certificate of actual expenditure which will detail any difference between the estimate and actual cost. Owing to the cyber incident this difference will be applied to your account on 1st April 2023.

We wrote to you in September 2022, with a notice of costs incurred in accordance with S.20B(2) Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as amended), for the 2021/22 service charge year. Your letter will include a Statement of Actual Expenditure showing your estimated charges, the actual costs and any difference.

Your lease may require you to pay ground rent to the freeholder of your property. Your lease will also say if the amount of ground rent payable will increase over time. If you need to pay ground rent, you’ll receive a notice of demand that will tell you how much you need to pay. This is usually sent to you each year before 1 April.

Certain service charges are eligible for help through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit. Eligible charges are usually those related to services carried out in communal areas of the property, such as communal cleaning, or the cost of providing communal heating and lighting etc.

There are however some service charges that are not eligible and are not covered by either Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, as a rule these are charges for personal services such as personal heating and hot water.

If you would like further information on eligible and ineligible service charges in Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, please contact us on 0300 500 8000.

Properties are grouped into blocks and/or estates for dividing service charges. Service charges are apportioned depending on what is specified in the lease or other legal document relevant to your home and based on the services being provided.

If you are unhappy with the service provided, or the amount being charged you can get in contact by completing the 'Query a service charge' form. Alternatively you can chat with us using our live chat or call us on 0300 500 8000.

We will be able to take details of why the service provided has not met your expectations and raise this with the relevant business teams to get in contact with you to discuss further. If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of your enquiry, please follow our complaints process to escalate this further.

If you would like a full breakdown of your service charges please refer to point 9 and 10 in the Summary of tenant’s rights and obligations document which will outline the steps you need to take. Upon receipt of your written request, we will be able to provide you with the requested information.

The administration fee is charged on the total cost of services to communal service charges and it covers our costs of obtaining and managing the service and the cost of preparing and reconciling the service charge account. Where there is a managing agent providing the services, additionally our administration fee covers the cost of ensuring the agent complies with all regulations and lease agreements.

Whilst, a management fee is charged to some homeowners to cover our costs of managing the relationship with you as set out in your lease or freehold transfer and it covers our costs of managing the lease obligations, collecting rent and service charges and carrying out consultations with leaseholders. Essentially, the admin fee is charged on communal services provided, whilst the management fee covers our cost of managing the relationship with you as the homeowner.

Administration fees are charged at the lower of £200 per annum or 15% of the value of eligible service charges.

For management fees, there are two tiers of charges set at either £65 or £140 per annum for existing homeowners.

This is a charge on the total cost of services to communal service charges. It covers our costs for obtaining and managing the service and the cost of preparing and reconciling the service charge account. For example, the administration charge for repairs will help meet the costs of staff involved in ordering the repair, checking the repairs for quality and paying contractor invoices.

This charge is for the provision of an intensive housing management service, delivered to residents, in our LiveSmart and Supported Housing schemes. This includes the management of scheme facilities, providing additional onsite guidance, and arranging for activities such as repairs to be carried out. The charge is applied to elements of service which are required in a scheme setting, but which would not be required in someone’s family home.

This charge is for management fees; we charge management fees to some of our homeowners, to cover our costs of managing the relationship with you as set out in your lease or freehold transfer. We set the charge dependent on the property type and the services we provide. The management fee covers our costs for:

• managing the lease obligations;
• collecting rent and service charges;
• consulting leaseholders on repair work and long-term contracts;
• investigating and where necessary taking action on breaches of the lease; and
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• undertaking inspections to ensure compliance with statutory requirements.

This charge is for Managing Agent services; in some cases, the freehold is not owned by Clarion and we work with a managing agent who works on behalf of the freeholder to provide a range of services for the estate. Clarion is charged by the managing agent for the cost of these services, which are then recharged through service charge in line with your lease or tenancy agreement. If you would like more information about the services charged for, please do not hesitate to get in touch and we will be able to provide a copy of the managing agent’s accounts to you.

This charge is for the cost of electricity and power to communal areas including power to lifts, communal boilers, air source heat pumps and water pumps. Charges are based on the amount billed by the energy provider.

This charge is for the cost of fuel charges for the communal areas and hot water provided in a sheltered scheme to a communal bathroom, laundry room or kitchen, for example.

This charge is for the repairs and maintenance of block and/or street lighting.

This is for the reimbursement where electricity used to power Clarion equipment, most commonly smoke alarms and emergency lighting, is run from a tenant or leaseholder’s meter and not from a landlord meter.

This charge is for annual servicing (electrical test/inspection) LP system, providing protection to the building in the event of a lightning strike.

This charge is for gas consumed within a property by an individual resident or owner.

This charge is for electricity consumed within a property by an individual resident or owner.

This charge is for periodic checks of electrical installations for the supply of electricity to the common parts of a building and equipment. The equipment will vary from an electric kettle to laundry equipment such as the lift.

This charge is for the cost of maintaining the grounds of the estate around or near to your property. This includes services such as grass cutting, tree surgery and maintenance of flowerbeds. External contractors or our own Grounds Maintenance Operatives may carry out this work.

This charge is for costs where grounds maintenance services have occurred outside of an agreed contract.

This charge is for caretaking services - on some sites we have caretakers providing both internal and external services to ensure the property and wider estate are maintained to a good standard. This charge includes costs such as vehicle hire, cleaning materials, a proportion of the caretaker’s staff costs, estate services management costs and the equipment they use.

This charge is for the cost of cleaning the communal areas inside a block such as stairs, communal hallways and pathways by a contractor or a Clarion estate services team. Where an in-house estate services team carries out communal cleaning, this charge will be a contribution to the cleaning equipment and materials used.

This charge is for the cleaning of communal windows within a block. This will not include the cleaning of the windows in your own property.

This charge is for a scheme based service to provide block patrols (reporting anti-social behaviour, repairs and health and safety issues), maintenance access and security for the building, such as door entry and live CCTV monitoring.

This charge is for your share of costs for day to day repairs to, or within, communal areas of your block or on your estate, for example, repairs to a main entrance door.

This charge is for the annual cost of maintaining and servicing door entry systems, automated vehicle gates, barriers and shutters.

This charge is for any costs incurred in clearing pests from communal areas, or where there is a risk of infestation from an individual property to communal areas, including pesticides and pest control contracts.

This charge is for servicing and providing washing and/or drying appliances and the repair and/or replacement of equipment, if beyond repair.

This charge is for the cost of servicing and maintenance carried out, to ensure that communal lifts or stair lifts are in good working order.

This charge is for the provision of a facility within your block, which is usually managed by the Mechanical and Electrical Team at Clarion, for example the provision of CCTV, door entry phone, TV aerial or fire safety equipment. The cost of providing this service would have been calculated by dividing the cost of the installation by its life expectancy.

This charge is for the provision of other equipment which would have been calculated by dividing the cost of installation by its life expectancy. This could be items such as salt bins and equipment in drying areas and also covers the maintenance of the equipment.

This charge is for Major works costs, for planned or cyclical maintenance such as roof replacements, new lifts, external redecoration and redecoration of communal areas inside a building. This can include any communal repairs which will cost any individual homeowner £250 or more. Before any major works are started we will consult with shared owners and leaseholders in accordance with Section 20 Legislation and advise how much the work is estimated to cost.

This charge is for the cost of rent, servicing and maintenance of the communal aerial. On some blocks there will be a communal television aerial which individual properties will be connected to.

This charge is for the cost of purchasing, maintaining, repairing and replacing furniture provided by Clarion, such as sofas or tables in shared communal areas or bedroom furniture in individual units.

This charge is for the cost of servicing and maintenance of fall arrest equipment used for roof maintenance and window cleaning.

To provide security patrols and concierge services, as part of 24 hour static security service team, in order to maintain a safe and secure environment at residential blocks. To identify, disrupt and detect criminal or anti-social activity and work with stakeholders to resolve.

Ensure that residential blocks are safe and secure by patrolling property, controlling access, monitoring and downloading CCTV and inspecting buildings and taking immediate action where appropriate.

• Work collaboratively with the Estate Services, Neighbourhood Response and Tenancy Specialist teams to ensure that residential areas are safe and secure.
• Support stakeholders in delivering resident communications or other initiatives to improve customer satisfaction and respond to emergency situations.

This charge is for the cost of service and maintenance of fire protection measures such as emergency lighting, alarms, sprinklers and automatic opening vent systems. Clarion has a statutory duty to ensure the safety of its blocks. We are committed to following a risk based approach such that we will complete inspections and servicing that satisfies both regulation and wider building safety guidance. By doing this we are able to demonstrate effective risk control of our buildings.

This charge is for the hire of bins from the local authority or refuse company for the estate or block. This can also be for a depreciation cost for bins, whereby costs are spread over a certain timeframe to allow for them to be more manageable.

This charge is for the cost of removing large objects dumped or disposed of around the estate and/or block when we are unable to identify and prove who was responsible for leaving it there. This could be a fly tipping incident, for example. It is not the removal of general domestic household waste collected from general refuse bins by your local authority.

This charge is for the hire of bins from the local authority or refuse company for the estate or block. This can also be for a depreciation cost for bins, whereby costs are spread over a certain timeframe to allow for them to be more manageable.

This charge is for the cost of removing large objects dumped or disposed of around the estate and/or block when we are unable to identify and prove who was responsible for leaving it there. This could be a fly tipping incident, for example. It is not the removal of general domestic household waste collected from general refuse bins by your local authority.

This charge is for the cost of maintaining and servicing the waste water/sewerage plant and system serving your home (this only applies if you are not connected to a main sewerage system paid for to a Water Authority). This also includes any repairs that may be required.

This charge is for the annual water risk assessment and associated works carried out (i.e. water tank cleans and disinfecting etc.) All communal areas, plant and equipment are inspected to ensure the water quality is satisfactory. This reduces and manages the risk of water born bacteria (i.e. legionella) in communal areas, plant and equipment.

This charge is for water consumed within a property by an individual resident or owner.

This charge is for the cost of maintaining the cold water booster pumps/pump set and associated expansion vessels and control units. This only applies where your property is fed by such boosted systems. The costs incurred are to ensure the pump set is maintained in good working order and to reduce failure of the water supply.