Leaseholder service charges
You must pay a service charge for the services you receive, for repair and maintenance to the building and for the landlord's insurance and management costs.
Your lease will give details of what service charges you must pay and when.
Caretaking or cleaning:
- If a caretaking or cleaning service is provided to your block you will be required to pay a share of the cost, through your service charge.
Maintaining the grounds:
- We employ contractors to maintain the shared gardens and grounds. To make sure we provide value for money we usually put the contracts up for tender every three years. You can get full details of this service from the Leasehold and Sales Team.
Repairing and maintaining the block:
- Your service charge will include items for day-to-day repairs needed to maintain the structure, outside and shared areas of the block.
Electricity:
- You also contribute to shared electricity for your block which includes supplies for staircases and corridor lighting, costs of running the lifts and any other.
- The service charge year runs from 1 April to 31 March and charges are billed in arrears
- Invoices are sent out in July / August when the council accounts have been finalised
- You will find the ways to pay listed on the back of your service charge invoice
If you wish to pay your invoice by instalment the following is a guide to the number of payments acceptable:
| Invoice type | Payments |
|---|---|
| Invoices less than £150 | Should be cleared by the following 31 March |
| Invoices between £150 and £500 | Up to 12 monthly payments |
| Invoices more than £500 | Up to 18 months |
| Invoices more than £1500 | These may qualify for a Service Charges loan available under leasehold legislation. Please contact the Leasehold and Sales Team for further information. |
The council asks that these are set up via standing order or direct debit where available.
If you have difficulty in paying your service charges you should contact the council immediately to discuss your account.
- We can then tackle the problem quickly and find a practical solution
- Failure to pay your service charges will result in the council taking action for their recovery
- This may result in additional costs being added to your bill
- We are working to set up local leaseholder panels
- We have approximately 500 leasehold properties and would like to get our leaseholders more involved with the service
- If you would like more details, contact the tenant participation team on 01722 434482 or email tenantparticipation@wiltshire.gov.uk
