Service Charges Explained

Your 2009/2010 ESTIMATED Service Charges Explained

What are Service Charges?

Service Charges are your share of the cost to Camden Council of providing services to your block or estate.

These charges are due under the terms of your lease or freehold transfer and will vary depending on where you live. For each financial year (April to March), you are invoiced the estimated costs at the start of the period (in April) and an adjustment for the actual costs six months after the year end (in September) once we have calculated all of the actual expenses.

All invoices include a summary showing the amounts spent on each service and your contribution towards them. If your actual costs are less than the estimated costs, a credit note is attached and the oldest outstanding invoice(s) on your account will have been credited. If you have no outstanding invoices then the amount will be placed on your account and offset against future invoices. If there is a credit on your account of over £100.00 you may request for the amount to be refunded. If the actual cost is more than the estimated cost, an adjustment invoice is attached, which should be paid within 28 days.

How are my Service Charges worked out?

Your estimated charges are based either on the last available set of actual costs, the previous year’s estimated costs or on the contract cost plus an inflationary uplift. The actual costs for the year 2008/2009 have not yet been finalised so the actual costs for 2007/2008 have been used. This means that we have applied an uplift covering two years, generally at 2.5% per year. Further information is provided under each service charge item.

What your Service Charges include depends on the type of property you live in and where you live. Generally they cover the cost of providing communal services to your block and/or estate.

– If you live on an estate with more than one block you will receive block charges for services that benefit just your block and estate charges for services that benefit the whole estate.

– If you live in a stand-alone block or a street property, you will receive only block charges.

For most services your share is worked out by dividing the cost of providing the service between the properties in your block and/or estate.

However, if you are connected to a district heating and hot water system or if you receive gas direct from Camden, your charge will be based on the number of bedrooms in your property.

Insurance premiums will be based on either the rebuild value of your property, if your block belongs to Camden, or a share of the cost of insurance charged to Camden where Camden is not the superior landlord.

How can I find out more about my Service Charges?

Your obligation to pay Service Charges is set out in your lease (or transfer if you are a freeholder on an estate). Not all Camden’s leases are the same. If you want to understand your Service Charge obligations, you are advised to check your lease (or transfer).

To find out more about your Service Charge you can contact the Home Ownership

Collections team by writing to:

London Borough of Camden
Home Ownership Services
Housing and Adult Social Care
Bidborough House
20 Mabledon Place
London
WC1H9BF
Or you can e-mail us at: hos@camden.gov.uk

If you prefer you can make an appointment to see someone in person by contacting 020 7974 3559. The office is open between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.
You can find out more about Home Ownership in Camden on the web by visiting: http://www.camden.gov.uk and clicking on the following links: “Housing” then “Council tenants and leaseholders” and finally “Home ownership”

Paying your Service Charges

Please refer to the back of your invoice for payment options.

If you prefer you can make an appointment to see someone in person by contacting 020 7974 3559. The office is open between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.

You can find out more about Home Ownership in Camden on the web by visiting: http://www.camden.gov.uk and clicking on the following links: “Housing” then “Council tenants and leaseholders” and finally “Home ownership”

What do I do if I have a dispute or complaint regarding my service charges?

In accordance with the terms of your lease and legislation we have a duty to do the following:

– Calculate your charges
– Notify you of these charges
– Give you access to information in relation to the charges incurred

However, you may not be happy with the amount you have to pay or what you have to pay towards. In the first instance you should contact the Collections Team if you have a dispute or a complaint. They will try to resolve the issue for you. If you are unhappy with how this process was handled you can make a formal complaint. The formal complaints procedure is set out in the Camden Leaflet ‘How do I complain about a council service?’ you can request this from the manager concerned or from the complaints information line on 020 7974 5644. You can also get details from our website at: www.camden.gov.uk/complaints

There may still be occasions where you are not happy with the amount you have to pay and Camden does not accept your reasons for not paying. If this is the case you have the right to apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT), an independent arbitrator, for a decision as to whether the charges are reasonable.

The following documents explains the individual service charges and the way they are calculated by the Camden Council. To view the document in a PDF format click here.