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Ground rent and service charges
Ground rent
Leasehold is a form of tenure that is similar
to a long tenancy; you need to pay the council £10 ground rent per
year. Ground rent is a specific requirement of the lease and must
be paid on the due date.
Service charges
Your lease sets out your obligations to pay
service charges to the council in addition to your ground rent.
Service charges are payments by the leaseholder to the landlord for
all the services, (heads of charge) the landlord provides, to the
extent that the costs have been reasonably incurred.
These will include:
Usually the charges will also include the costs of
management.
Other
charges
Major
works
Heads of charge
Below is an overview of each head of charge
that make up the service charge, and how they are calculated. Your
lease will stipulate which types of services the council can charge
you for and state how your proportion of costs should be worked
out.
Buildings insurance
We have to provide leasehold buildings
insurance on an annual basis to cover any unforeseen events that
cause damage to the building’s structure. You will be recharged a
percentage of the total premium. You are strongly advised to take
out your own contents insurance.
Estate services
We provide a caretaking service to your block
and your proportion of the full cost is charged to you using the
calculation provided in your lease. Using actual expenditure
figures for the financial year, the charge consists of an
operational charge per property and a team charge per property.
Shared heating
This charge applies only to Flaxmans Court
residents, who as a result of the design of the buildings receive
heating from shared communal boilers at Esmonde House. The charge
includes the costs of the supply of gas for heating, and of
servicing the boilers.
Communal electricity
This charge covers the costs for the supply of
our staircase/walkway lighting to individual blocks of flats. You
are billed the relevant proportion of the costs for your block.
Window cleaning
You will be charged a proportion of the annual
contract costs for the regular cleaning (external and internal) of
communal windows in your block of flats.
Grounds maintenance
You will be charged annually as per contract
for the following types of work:
- grass cutting;
- rose-bed maintenance;
- shrub maintenance;
- annual planting of beds;
- hedge maintenance;
- maintaining paths and paved areas;
- weed removal.
TV aerial
Following consultation and installation of
block Integrated Reception System (IRS) digital aerials, all
leaseholders were given the option to pay over five years and
individual charges are applied accordingly. This service charge may
also include ad-hoc repairs undertaken to an IRS aerial throughout
a service charge year.
Repairs
You will be charged for any communal repairs
to blocks of flats. You are billed for works to your block as per
the percentage agreed in your lease. You will also be given an
itemised list of repairs carried out on your block.
Other charges
You pay council tax
separately from your service charge and ground rent. You will be
sent details each year. You are responsible for paying your water
rates, electricity, gas and any other charges straight to the
individual companies that provide them.
Major works
You will be charged for any planned
maintenance or improvement works undertaken to your block in a
service charge year. Costs per leaseholder are based on actual
expenditure during the service charge year.
The council is able to
make these charges under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act
2002. This act also allows the council to charge for any
improvement works to the building and grounds, as well as repairs.
Tenants as well as leaseholders pay a service charge.
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