More information on service charges

Service charges have been commonplace in the UK housing sector for many years and we avoided introducing them for as long as we could.

Any service charges that we introduce are an essential contribution to meeting the costs involved in providing a specific service. We do all we can to charge you less than what it costs us to deliver services.

The costs of delivering services naturally rise over time, and sometimes the amount of grant funding that we get from central government to subsidise certain services can change.

Fair service charges allow housing providers to avoid cutting services and try to keep the impact on personal finances minimal. One of our main objectives is to support customers to be independent and communities to be sustainable.

For tenants living in our properties for general needs, in April 2018 we introduced a service charge to contribute to estate maintenance costs. In April 2019 we introduced a communal lighting service charge for general needs tenants living in our blocks of flats.

Some tenants with housing support needs, including tenants living at our sheltered housing, extra and independent living schemes pay an Intensive Housing Management service charge already and wouldn’t pay the service charges above.

The Supporting People grant that we previously received from central government to fund our support services for older people is no longer available. The only way we can continue to deliver these services, for example Careline, Sheltered Support Service and Handy Person’s Service, is to introduce specific charges for them. Therefore, from 5 April 2021, we’re proposing that all tenants living at our sheltered housing, extra care and independent living schemes pay additional weekly service charges. These changes will also affect tenants and residents who receive Careline but don’t live at a sheltered housing, extra care or independent living scheme.

Some service charges are eligible for benefit or Universal Credit. The amount you receive will be calculated by the Revenue and Benefits Unit. The government is constantly reviewing the welfare it pays out, so we always monitor the situation to understand what any changes mean for you.

No, we’re completely separate to Bolton Council. Each year we review all our services, costs and what you pay for your home, as part of our business plan which is approved by Bolton at Home’s Board.

We invest significantly to improve our neighbourhoods. This includes regeneration projects, community services and new housing developments to increase the supply of quality affordable housing to our communities.

We would not be able to do this vital work if we had to meet increased service costs or subsidise shortfalls in funding entirely on our own.

Any necessary service charges enable us to carry on providing important services like:

• Support services for older and vulnerable people;
• House building;
• Our on-going capital improvement programme (such as replacing roofs, kitchens, bathrooms and fencing);
• Employment training and support;
• Community activities;
• Repairs and maintenance;
• Looking after our estates.

No. Service charges are regulated by law and housing organisations can’t charge more for a service than the service costs. We’re careful to take the necessary legal steps to ensure we’re correct in our approach. We want to minimise any financial impact on you.

Any service charges will be part of your tenancy and treated in the same way as your rent, therefore subject to the same recovery action as rent arrears.

Each year we review all our services, costs and what you pay for your home, so we can’t say now what you’ll pay in the future.

We understand that you may have some concerns. We can offer you help from our specialist Money Advice Team. Our money advisors are here to support any of our tenants who have money worries at any time in their lives.

We can help you to:

• Review your income and check if you’re eligible for additional benefits such as Housing Benefits and Attendance Allowance, which is an allowance to help with extra costs if you have a disability severe enough that you need someone to help look after you;
• Apply for emergency payments;
• Support you with any other financial concerns you may have.

If you would like help to deal with your service charges, rent payments, household bills or debts, our Money Advice Team can help. From April 2018 to March 2019, 1,080 tenants gained a total of £5,233,690 with our support.

For more information or to get in touch, click here.