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Service charges explained

Service Charges are charges you pay in addition to your rent charge.

The types and amount of service charge you pay each year will vary depending on the

following factors:

  • your tenancy type: General Needs, Sheltered Housing or Extra Care
  • the number of bedrooms in your property
  • whether or not your property has any communal areas (shared hallways/access/green space)
  • whether or not your property has mains drainage
  • advice from Central Government

Grounds maintenance charge

All our housing tenants pay towards the cost of grounds maintenance. The service charge covers the cost of keeping hedges, trees, grass and borders trimmed and tidy. It also covers keeping communal areas clear of weeds and moss.

The cost is spread equally across all tenants. This means people living in areas where there’s a lot of land to keep in order aren’t charged an unfair amount.

If you wish to report an overgrown grass, shrubs or trees on council land, please use our online tree, hedge or grass problem form.

You may be charged additional charges dependent on property type.

General needs tenants

General needs tenants may also pay:

Sewerage Charge

This is only applicable to properties who don’t have main drainage/sewerage.

Communal Areas Charge

This is applicable to any property which has a communal area (hallways/shared access/shared green areas) and covers costs of things like lighting, fire safety, communal entrances (security), other maintenance in communal areas as appropriate.

It is a standard set charge for any tenants who have communal facilities, and all pay same rate regardless of what specific services they get. In 2022-23 this charge will increase from 68p to £1.00 per week to start to reflect costs of providing these services.

Sheltered housing tenants

Sheltered housing tenants also have the following additional service charges:

Shelter Charge

This charge is for all Sheltered Housing Tenants. It is a payment towards the cost of providing services or facilities provided for the benefit of tenants living on designated sheltered accommodation schemes e.g.services of Sheltered Housing Officer, tenancy sustainment, advice and referrals, visits, assessments, meetings, groups as well as access to meeting halls and facilities.

Piper Lifeline Charge

This is the charge for the Deane Helpline Piper Service.

Heating and Laundry Charges

Only paid by small number of properties which have access to communal Heating and Laundry facilities.

Extra care tenants

Extra care tenants also have the following charges:

Piper Lifeline Charge

This is the charge for the Deane Helpline piper service.

Extra Care Housing Service Charge

Intensive housing management, visits, assessments, meetings and groups.

Help and support

If you are struggling to pay your rent and service charge and would like to receive help there is help available: