Service charges
What is a service charge?
A service charge is an additional charge that is added to your rent. Service charges cover the cost of managing and maintaining the common parts of the building and can cover external areas of the estate. The law states the charge must be “reasonable” and the services provided must be carried out to a “reasonable” standard.
Service charges are shared costs paid by customers who receive shared services, such as in high-rise flats or low-rise blocks. Shared services might include maintaining lifts, concierge service, night-time security, caretaking, lighting and cleaning of communal areas.
Why do I have to pay service charges?
If you are a Birmingham City Council tenant, the service charge is in addition to the rent you pay, but it’s paid at the same time as your rent.
The rent you pay covers the services we provide for you in your home and includes things like repairs, managing your tenancy, collecting the rent you pay and dealing with any issues of anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Service charges are for services we provide for you outside of your immediate home. Typically, these are shared with other residents who receive the same service, for example, a lift in a block of flats, or communal cleaning and caretaking services.
How do I know which services I will be charged for?
Rent and service charges are reviewed annually. We will write to you in February each year informing you of your new weekly rent charge, payable from 1st April.
If you are subject to service charges, a breakdown of the services that you pay for will be shown on your rent notification letter so that you can see the full breakdown of your new weekly rent and is also shown on your quarterly rent statement if your account is in arrears.
How are service charges calculated?
In line with the Conditions of Tenancy, when setting the service charge each year, we estimate a cost based on the last known actual expenditure in costs of service delivery for your building or estate, with small adjustments for pay and price inflation and other costs e.g. management administration costs.
Many of our tenants pay what are known as fixed service charges. This means that should the costs of services for your building or estates be overspent at the end of the financial year, we cannot come back to you to request any further money. It also means that should the building or estates be underspent, no money will be returned to you. Each year accounts and budgets are reviewed to ensure that the ongoing charges are “reasonable” and we are charging you the correct amount for the services you receive.
What services are included in the service charge?
A table which describes the service charges, what is included in the charge and the service standards where applicable can be found by visiting Service charge table.
Page last updated: 11 February 2025