What do you pay for - rent and service charges

Depending on the type of home you own you could pay rent, service charges, reserve or sinking fund contributions, and management or administration fees.

If you wish to make a payment to us, go to the My home page. 

There is support available if you are struggling to pay your bills. Visit our Cost of living page for more information.

Rent 

Although you are a homeowner, you may have to pay rent. 

Shared ownership rent

Shared ownership rent is initially set when the property is first built or acquired by us and is then reviewed annually using a formula set in the shared ownership lease. This formula usually uses the Retail Price Index (RPI) as the basis for the annual change to your rent plus 0.5%. During 2022, LiveWest took steps to limit rent increases for shared owners by removing the percentage increase above and beyond RPI. More recent leases tend to use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1% to calculate rent increases.

If you purchase additional shares in your home, called staircasing, your rent will reduce in proportion to the amount you purchase. The more shares you own, the less rent you pay, 

Ground rent

Ground rent is usually paid every year by leaseholders. Your lease will say whether or not you need to pay ground rent. If it is payable, we will send you a payment request every year. Ground rent is collected separately from your other service charges. 

Service charges

You will need to pay a service charge if we provide services or carry out maintenance to your building or estate. It is normally paid every month along with any other payments you make to us. Depending on your legal agreement with us you might pay quarterly or yearly instead of monthly. 

Your lease or freehold transfer will give details about what we are responsible for doing and what you are responsible for paying for. It will also say what proportion of costs you are responsible for and how this is payable to us.

Read our service charges explained guide here.

Read our service charge policy here.

What is a service charge?

A service charge is a charge made to a tenant, a shared owner, leaseholder or freeholder, which contributes towards the costs of the upkeep of the scheme, road or block where you live. It usually relates to any communal areas which your home either has access to, benefits from its upkeep, or forms part of the wider scheme or estate where you live.

What is included in the service charge?

You need to check what your lease or freehold transfer document says. Below are some of the most common things that may be included in service charges although this will vary depending on where you live.

• Cleaning communal areas such as shared corridors and stairways.
• Gardening or grounds maintenance to communal outside areas.
• Maintenance and servicing of door entry systems, fire alarms, and lifts.
• Electricity for lighting in communal areas and other electrical services.
• Minor day to day repairs needed in communal areas or to the main structure of blocks of flats.
• Staff employed to provide services where you live, such as scheme managers

How is the service charge set?

We usually set service charges by estimating the total cost of providing services and maintenance for the year. At the end of the year, we check if the amount we spent was more or less than the amount we estimated. If we spent more than the budget we normally recover the shortfall through your service charge the following year. If we spent less than the budget we normally credit this amount to the service charge the following year.

What services do I pay towards?

The requirement to pay a service charge will be confirmed within your tenancy agreement, lease, transfer document (for homeowners) or sales information which will have been provided to you, during the purchase of your home.

Depending on your tenancy type and tenure, we will send out an annual budget which will detail all elements of your service charge for which you are required to contribute. If you have an affordable tenancy or have a fixed service charge, this information will be detailed within your tenancy agreement provided to you during your sign-up.

What proportion of costs for communal services do I pay?

If you are a leaseholder, your lease may allow us to share out the total cost to leaseholders by any method we consider reasonable. This is supported by legislation that requires landlords to set charges in a reasonable manner. Alternatively, the lease may specify a particular method of payment, for example dividing the charge by the number of flats (or houses) in a block (or estate).

Your lease, freehold or legal agreement sets out how we divide up charges between flats or houses.

What are the different types of service charge?

At LiveWest, we have both fixed and variable service charges. The main differences with these are that variable service charges are calculated based on the actual costs which your scheme, block or estate has incurred during the previous year. Variable service charges can fluctuate each year based on the actual costs incurred the year before. Every year you will receive a set of accounts and a budget confirming the actual costs applied to your scheme and what we predict the costs will be for the following year – based on the actual costs incurred previously.

Fixed service charges are set at the start of the financial year and will not fluctuate throughout the year. Fixed service charges do not require us to issue budgets or accounts. Your service charge for the following year will be confirmed in your annual rent review letter.

Why has my service charge cost increased?

Depending on the type of services charge which your property contributes towards, you may have received a set of accounts which will confirm the actual money spend at your scheme. We base our budgets on these costs and on any knowledge we may have on any upcoming costs which we know of. We also take into consideration the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) as advised by the Government and any increases in existing contracts are also taken into consideration.

Why is my service charge sometimes more than stated in my budgets?

We manage several contractors who provide a wide range of services for our customers, such as grounds maintenance, communal cleaning, and window cleaning. Each of these contractors have different times of the year which their contracts are either renewed, or new contractors are appointed. We usually only increase budgets for these costs in line with the advised CPI rate. If a contractor changes their costs after the budgets have been posted out to you, the previously stated costs will still be applied, however a surplus or deficit may be shown the following year. The increase in the CPI rate will hopefully reduce the impact of any increased contractor costs received throughout the year, to help reduce a possible deficit having to be recovered the following year.

Do I need to pay my service charge if I’m in receipt of Housing Benefit (HB) or Universal Credit (UC)?

We split your service charge costs in to eligible and ineligible service charges. If the service charge is eligible it can be covered by HB or UC. Depending on the level of benefit you receive (and if you have any ineligible costs) your budget statement will confirm whether you need to top up your benefit payments to cover any of these costs. 

What are ineligible service charge costs?

These are the costs for services provided which are not covered by either HB or UC. These costs will not be for communal areas and will benefit your own home directly. Costs which are not eligible for benefits are things such as personal grass cutting, personal alarms, meal services, personal utility costs – any service which applies to either inside your property boundary, or only benefits you and not the surrounding communal areas where you live.

Why is my service charge different to what my neighbour pays?

Service charge costs may differ from home to home. Depending on your tenure (renting or shared ownership, for example), some costs are not applicable if you rent your home and some costs are calculated on the number of bedrooms within your home. Your lease or tenancy agreement may also confirm specific costs which may not be relevant to other homes nearby.

Why am I paying both a management company and LiveWest?

Management companies are in place to cover the overall maintenance of the scheme. The responsibilities for what areas they manage differ on a scheme-by-scheme basis. Management companies are appointed by the developer (builder) of the scheme to cover the upkeep and maintenance of the land which has not been conveyed to either LiveWest or another landlord and has not been adopted by the local authority.

Do I have to pay the amounts mentioned on the accounts? 

No, the accounts are simply to confirm to you what costs have been paid for the upkeep of your scheme or block for that period of time.

What do these estate safety costs cover?

Estate safety costs cover all of the fire safety tasks and checks which landlords must carry out. This can include things such as fire alarm checks, internal fire door safety checks (for communal areas in flats), fire and scheme risk assessments, smoke-vents (usually located at the top of communal stair ways), visual fire inspections, to name a few. These costs cover the weekly and monthly visits and testing required to maintain compliance in line with relevant health and safety guidelines.

What is a depreciation fund?

Asset depreciation funds are for the ongoing contribution towards larger, more expensive items in communal areas which may need replacing. This includes things such as lifts, communal carpets, fire alarm systems, door entry systems. A lifespan for each item is estimated and a contribution is made towards the costs of its replacement during its estimated lifespan. Having a depreciation ‘pot’ is to reduce the cost to customers when these expensive items need replacing.

Can I see my depreciation fund statement? 

Yes, just call the Service Charge team on 01392 302138 or email them at service.charge.team@livewest.co.uk and we will send you a statement.

Why is the cost for my depreciation fund located in the ‘budget ALL’ and in the ‘My budget’ column? 

This is a fixed charge and everyone who will benefit from replacing the items being collected for pays the same amount.

How can I contact the Service Charge team?

You can email the team directly at service.charge.team@livewest.co.uk - please include your name, property address and contact details in your email.

Or if you prefer to speak to someone, please feel free to call the Service Charge team directly on 01392 302138. 

Buildings insurance

If we provide buildings insurance for your home or building you pay this as part of your monthly charge to us. You can find more information about buildings insurance here.

Sinking funds 

Sinking funds (sometimes called reserve funds) are charged in order to build up funds to pay for major or planned works. Your lease or freehold transfer will say if you need to pay into a sinking fund.

What are sinking funds used for?

The most common types of work that sinking funds are put towards are:

• Decoration of internal and external communal areas.
• Repairs or replacement of a roof, communal windows, and doors.
• Replacement or refurbishment of door entry systems, fire alarms or lifts.
• Planned external repairs to the building.
• Improvements to communal areas and parking areas.

Sinking funds are not usually used to cover the cost of minor day or day responsive repairs. These costs are paid through your service charge each year. 

Before we carry out major works we will usually carry out formal consultation with you. This is called Section 20 Consultation and more information can be found on our Section 20 Consultation page, or watch our video below. 

What happens to the fund if I sell my home?

Money paid into the sinking or reserve fund stays in the fund when a property is sold. It is not refunded to the person selling. The fund can be a positive factor when selling, as there is some money set aside for future works. 

What happens if there is not enough money in the sinking fund to pay for works?

If the balance in your sinking fund does not fully cover the cost of the works, we will issue you an invoice for the shortfall. If you are unable to afford to pay in full immediately, we may be able to agree to pay over an extended period of time. Contact us to find out more.

What if I plan to sell my home before the works are complete or billed?

During your sale, your solicitor will normally ask us for details on outstanding works or payments, as well as changes to any contracts. We will disclose this information so that your buyer is aware of anything that may affect them. We expect any financial negotiations to be made between your solicitor and your buyer’s solicitor. 

Management and administration fees

Depending on the services you receive from us you may pay:

A management fee

Management fees cover the expensed of:
•    Property management services for your building and estate. 
•    Arranging buildings insurance.
•    Providing public liability insurance.
•    Managing accounts.
•    Staffing and office costs. 
•    Complying with Homes England regulations. 

An administration charge

An administration charge is based on a percentage of the cost the works or services provided. It covers the cost of us: 
•    Arranging and managing works.
•    Setting up and managing contracts.
•    Consulting with residents.
•    Setting up and monitoring contracts.
•    Managing works and contractors.
•    Processing invoices.

A fee for additional services

Sometimes you may have a request which we will charge you for, as it is not covered by the management fee or administration charge. See our Administration Fees to see what this could include.