Service Charges
Service charges are defined as ‘services performed or facilities (including the use of furniture) provided for or the right is made available to you. These are charges that you will pay over and above occupying your accommodation.
What are the items that make up a service charge?
These are broadly divided into the following sections:
- Repair and maintenance costs
- Rent increase to cover council tax obligation
- Management costs
- Voids
- Insurance and support
- Intensive housing management
- Maintenance of equipment cost
- Maintenance and cleaning of communal areas
- Use of furniture or household equipment
- Refuse removal
- Communal telephone charges, but not personal calls
- Entry phones
- Provision of equipment and premises for you to do own personal laundry etc
- Service charges you can claim for
- Service charges that you have to pay for in order to occupy your home will be counted as part of your eligible rent if they are related to the provision of adequate accommodation.
Examples of service charges that may be included in your eligible rent are:
- cleaning of communal areas. These are defined as areas (other than rooms) with common access (including halls and passageways) and rooms of common use connection to a radio or television system (except satellite and cable relay systems) in specified circumstances
- other services such as those provided by caretakers which relate to the provision of adequate accommodation
- children’s play areas
These lists are not exhaustive; other service charges may be included or excluded in your eligible rent.
Eligible Service Charge
Service charges which are eligible for housing benefit include:
Service charges relating to the cleaning and maintenance of and fuel supplied to communal areas, i.e.:
- Areas of common access (such as halls and stairwells in a block of flats)
- Common rooms (such as a dining room)
- Water charges for communal areas
- Charges for certain communal facilities, including:
- TV aerial and relay
- Communal laundry facilities.
The amount of the eligible service charge is reasonable.
Intensive Housing Management
These are the additional costs in accommodating people with ‘special needs’ and can include:
- intensive wear and tear to the property
- the need to inspect and decorate more often
Service Charges that cannot be included in eligible rent are as follows:
- fuel and water charges (unless they relate to a communal area)
- personal laundry (but not a service charge for the use of laundry facilities)
- cleaning of rooms and windows (other than communal areas) unless neither you nor any member of your household can do it
- transport
- meals or groceries (housing benefit uses set figures as a meal deduction)
- television rental and license fee (but the cost of television and radio relay may be allowed)
- leisure items like recreation facilities (but payments for children’s play areas are allowed)
- personal care and support
- domestic water and sewerage charges
- personal services
- charges for meals
- laundry
- cleaning
- heating or lighting of rooms
- emergency alarm system
- TV rental and licence gees
- Medical expenses
- Nursing and personal care
- Counselling
- Other support services
The above are all ineligible charges for HB.