service charges

[bpjcf]

My housing association have introduced service charges for what they term an estate, which is actually 2 terraces of houses, with a block of flats in between. They have itemised the charges, & it seems that the services provided apply only to the block of flats. However, they have added an administration charge to the rent of the terraced hoses, despite the fact that they receive none of the itemised services. They said in a covering letter that they have a policy of distributing service charge among the "estate". Is there anything I could do about this, does the rent officer service cover issues like this?

[Mamyalynne]

I would contact the Rent Officer,in my experience they are very helpful.

[cathfromsaron]

yes plenty you can do! but you need to work together and not alone!

do you have a committee who cover these services or lack of services?
start a residents' association or similar.
who is your landlord?
they need to be informed in writing that you are disputing this bill!

they should meet with the residents to explain these charges, which you are claiming are unfair!

click below for a useful site ...

http://www.service-ch...Pbm6K8CFRQrfAodFBgVLA

[Simonelle]

I had this issue with my HA. They were charging Communal Lighting, cleaning, and entryphone to myself and my neighbour. I made a written complaint under their complaints procedure arguing that we didn't enjoy a benefit from these charges as we had seperate entrances and requested back-dated statements to see how long these charges had been in effect. We then asked that they be refunded. Result £600+ refunded.

So the first thing to do is get the service charge statements since you moved in, then ask your Housing Officer, if no satisfaction results then proceed to the associations complaints procedure. If no joy after finishing the WHOLE complaints procedure you can refer the matter to the Ombudsman - you must have completed the whole complaints process before going to the Ombudsman or it will be refered back to the associations complaints process.

You could also point out that if you were on Housing Benefit that the local authority might well question why they were paying for a service charge in the HB payment when you weren't receiving the services being charged.

You must ensure that you do all of this in writing

[tonywiltshire]

You will probably find the Leasehold Advisory Service 020 7383 9800, of help.