About your service charge

What the service charge covers

The annual service charge includes services such as caretaking and day-to-day repairs. For leaseholders, your building insurance premium and ground rent is also included. Find out more about what the charges pay for further down this page.

We calculate your share of the cost of work and services for your block or estate. You have to pay them under the terms of your lease as a leaseholder or transfer document as a freeholder.

We send invoices for major works separately, after the work is completed. These are repair, replacement and improvement works where the charge is £250 or more. Examples include replacing lifts or windows or repairs to continuous roofs. We will write to you separately about any proposed works.

Your invoice

The invoice covers:

• estimated charges for 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025: we invoice you for estimated charges (what we think they will be) because we won’t know the exact cost of providing works and services to your block/estate yet, especially as amount and types of repairs can be different every year
• an adjustment to your overall amount for actual costs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, now that we know the actual costs for 2023/2024 -
  • If we overestimated your charges, you will get a credit on your bill for the difference between the estimated and actual costs.
  • If we underestimated your charges, you will see how much extra on top of last year's invoice that you need to pay.

How charges for last year (2023/24) have been calculated

We use a points system to divide the actual costs for communal works and services between properties. For example, grounds maintenance costs on an estate are divided between the properties on the estate. But communal heating costs are divided by the properties connected to the system and block charges are divided by the number of flats in your block.

Each property is allocated four points - one for each basic room or area such as the living room, kitchen, hallway and bathroom - and one point for each bedroom. For example, bedsits get four points and a one-bedroom flat would get five points.

The amount we charge each property is the number of points as a proportion of the total number of points on the estate or communal system. This means that properties with more bedrooms are charged more than smaller properties. Find out more about the points system.

How we estimate charges for 2024/25

The costs are based on the 2023/24 actual charges with a percentage increase based on inflation (how fast the price of goods and services increase over time).

For repairs estimates, we use the average charge from the last five years with a percentage increase based on inflation. 

Gas and electricity estimates are based on the same energy consumption as 2023/24 with a 20 per cent decrease for gas and a 25 per cent decrease for electricity (as advised by our Energy team).

Questions about your service charges

If you have questions or want to know more than what is included on your invoice or this webpage, contact the officer named on the letter that was sent with your invoice or email HomeOwnership@islington.gov.uk. Freeholders can also find out more on our webpages.

What leaseholder annual service charges cover

• Block mechanised services - Pressure washing to clean areas of your block (like dustbin chambers) and remove graffiti or spillages, and using mechanical sweepers to clean and wash the communal pathways and areas of your block.
• Block repairs and maintenance - Repairs and maintenance to the structural, external and communal parts of your block, including lifts. Regular maintenance jobs might include CCTV repairs, electrical testing and inspections, water tank monitoring, water hygiene assessments and monthly lift inspections.
• Building insurance - Premium to cover the cost of insuring your property in the event of structural damage. This insurance does not cover your belongings (contents insurance).The premium is calculated from the cost of rebuilding your property, where you pay £2.098 (rounded here to 3 decimal places) for every £1,000 insured. We also have to include 12 per cent insurance premium tax (set by the Government). The rebuild costs for 2024/25 have been increased by 5% to reflect property rebuilding and claims cost inflation based on the RICS Household Rebuilding Cost Index. You can view and download the building insurance policy and insurance FAQ documents on our webpage. 
• Caretaking - The caretaking service for your block/estate. Duties can include cleaning communal corridors and staircases, picking up litter, reporting damage to communal areas and dealing with blocked rubbish chutes.
• Communal electricity - Electricity for the communal lighting, lifts and other services to your block/estate.
• Communal heating/gas - Hot water and/or heating from a communal heating system to your property. If you have had a switch 2 meter installed in your property then this section will no longer show the cost of gas consumption but will include the annual maintenance cost for your meter, which is £69.67.  The cost of maintaining a building management system for the council’s communal heating systems is also included.
• Concierge - The security service for your block. This can include: providing a physical presence on site, meeting and greeting visitors, CCTV monitoring, reception cover, answering the intercom and providing incident reports.
• Entry phone repairs and maintenance - The repair and maintenance of the communal entry phone system in your block.
• Estate mechanised services - Removing lumber and bulk rubbish; pressure washing to clean areas of your estate (e.g. bin chambers) and remove graffiti or spillages; using mechanical sweepers to clean and wash paths, roads and other communal areas.
• Estate repairs and maintenance - Repairing and maintaining the communal areas of your estate, estate roads and paths etc.
• Fire safety - The cost of Fire Risk Assessments, fire door checks, the maintenance of fire safety equipment (e.g. dry riser testing and fire detection inspections) and related repairs. Also technical surveys and drawings (up to £250 per leaseholder) so we can meet our legal obligations under the Building Safety Act 2022 including registering buildings with the new Building Safety Regulator. Flats in buildings over 18 metres in height are also charged £100 each towards the procurement of building safety related software for their buildings.
• Ground rent - Ground rent as per the terms of your lease.
• Grounds maintenance - Maintaining the communal grassed and planted areas on the estate including grass cutting, pruning shrub beds and trees, clearing leaves.
• Heating repairs and maintenance - Repairing and maintaining the communal heating system. This includes monthly maintenance inspections.
• Management fee - It includes the costs of the Home Ownership teams who manage service charges and provide a leasehold management service, together with the costs of managing your block/estate including: dealing with anti-social behaviour, leaks and general lease/tenancy issues, resident engagement, service development, housing feedback etc.
• Pest control - Treatments carried out by the Pest Control Team to deal with block infestations.
• TMO management and maintenance - Your local management organisation’s costs for managing your building and/or estate. This will apply if your building or estate is managed by a tenant management organisation (TMO), a co-operative or an estate management board. You have to pay their fee for the services they provide, as well as a management fee to the council. Your TMO/co-op work out their costs based on the services they provide.
• TV repairs and maintenance - Repairing and maintaining the communal TV aerial system. This includes the costs of the equipment every year.

What freeholder annual service charges cover

• Caretaking - The caretaking service for your estate. Duties can include cleaning, picking up litter and reporting damage to communal areas. 
• Communal electricity - Lighting to the communal areas of the estate, estate roadways and paths etc.
  
• Communal heating/gas - Hot water and/or heating from a communal heating system to your property. 
• Estate mechanised services - Removing lumber and bulk rubbish; pressure washing to clean areas of your estate (e.g. bin chambers) and remove graffiti or spillages; using mechanical sweepers to clean and wash paths, roads and other communal areas.
• Estate repairs and maintenance - Repairing and maintaining the communal areas of your estate, estate roads and paths etc. 
• Grounds maintenance - The upkeep of communal grassed and planted areas on the estate including grass cutting, maintaining/pruning shrub beds and trees, clearing leaves. 
• Heating repairs and maintenance - Repairing and maintaining the communal heating system. 
• Management fee - Islington Council’s cost of managing freehold properties. It includes the costs of the home ownership teams (who manage service charges and deal with freeholders’ queries) and the housing service’s costs for managing your estate (e.g. anti-social behaviour, resident engagement, service development, housing feedback).
• TMO management and maintenance -The cost of your local management organisation for managing your estate. This will apply if your estate is managed by a tenant management organisation (TMO), a co-operative or an estate management board. You have to pay their fee for the services they provide, as well as the council’s management fee. Your TMO or cooperative work out their costs based on the services they provide.
• TV repairs and maintenance - Repairing and maintaining the communal TV aerial system. This includes the costs of servicing the equipment on a yearly basis.

Paying your service charges

Find out how to pay by direct debit, online or by phone.

Help paying

You must pay your service charges, even if your property doesn't have anyone living in it.

If you are struggling to pay your invoice, contact us by email on HomeOwnership@islington.gov.uk. We will do our best to help.

If you don't pay your service charges

If you haven't paid your service charges and have not contacted us for help, we will send you reminder letters, including one before legal action. Check what happens when you go into arrears.

If you still don’t pay or can't keep to an agreed payment arrangement, we will seek a County Court judgement against you. This means you will have to pay the service charges you owe and legal costs plus interest. Further legal action, interest and costs will be added if you continue to not pay your debt.

Why these services aren't paid for by council tax

By law, the council must keep all of the income and expenditure associated with its housing stock separate from the income and expenditure for all other council services, like education, social services, and libraries. This means the council cannot recover the costs of maintaining and managing its housing estates from council tax.

Instead, council tenants contribute towards the costs through their rent while leaseholders and freeholders contribute through their service charge.