Service Charge Explained

Your service charge is the money you pay towards the day-to-day running costs of the development. Every Resident pays the charge and the money is used to cover things like buildings insurance, maintenance, repairs, gardening and communal facilities as well as paying for your House Manager.

Manager / Emergency Call
These costs cover the House Manager’s salary, relief costs for when he/she cannot be on site and the associated costs of his/her office and equipment to help maintain the smooth running of your development. It also covers the cost of your 24hour monitoring service provided by CarelineUK.

Communal Services
This section of your service charge covers sickness insurance for your House Manager, Buildings Insurance and lift insurance. The cost of electricity for the communal parts of your development, communal cleaning, gardening and window cleaning are covered; plus, water and sewage costs for your individual apartment.

Repairs and Maintenance
The contract for the maintenance and servicing of the lift at your development, as well as the fire alarm smoke detectors, dry risers, emergency lighting and, where applicable, fire extinguishers are all covered by the service charge. This section also covers the cost of replacing light bulbs in communal areas, maintaining your development’s door entry system and Emergency Call System, as are the costs for general and planned maintenance. This section also makes a provision for excess costs relating to an insurance claim and maintenance of laundry equipment.

Reserve Funds
Held within the reserve fund is a redecoration fund which is a realistic assessment of expected costs for internal and external re-decorations of your development’s communal areas. It also covers a reserve fund for any major works over £400.

Professional Services
Professional Services relates to the management service provided by Peverel Retirement, which includes our management fee, the costs to audit your development’s annual accounts and any bank charges associated with your account. Your House Manager’s flat rental is also included, which is charged by the Landlord and collected by Peverel Retirement.

For more information on the management fee please click here.