Service Charges

Derby Homes' service charges are made up of the cost of:

• our services and
• arranging those services – called the management charge.

This means you pay for the service and you pay for Derby Homes arranging that service.

Every year in April - at the start of our financial year – Derby Homes will give you an estimated service charge budget for the year ahead. This will tell you what we plan to spend the money on. Derby Homes is responsible for providing the services described in your lease. We will charge you part of the cost of providing these services. Where you live in a block of flats, Derby Homes will arrange for:

• buildings insurance if requested - acting as agent for the insurance company
• repairs to the shared areas
• redecoration of shared areas
• cleaning - in some instances
• grounds maintenance of any shared areas

Derby Homes uses the money received from service charges to pay for services to all leaseholders.

You must make sure you have adequate property insurance. If you do not want Derby Homes to arrange buildings insurance you must make your own arrangements to take out property insurance with another company. Remember that not all insurance companies understand leases and the areas that are included in your lease. You can download an insurance proposal form here.

The services Derby Homes provide must be:

• of reasonable quality
• appropriate for the property - for example, a caretaker service may be appropriate for a large block of flats but not for a small block.

You are allowed to see invoices and other documents that support the summary of the amount of service charge spent. You must ask to do this within six months of getting the summary, by writing to

Derby Homes, Floor 2, Cardinal Square, 10 Nottingham Road, Derby DE1 3QT.

The service charge year ends on 31 March.

Any major repairs or improvement works will be invoiced to you separately.

Paying your service charge

Derby Homes has a legal duty to protect your health and safety and to provide the services set out in your lease, even though this may cause your service charges to increase.

You will also receive a bill on 1 April each year for the ground rent for the next 12 months.

You can pay your service charge either by monthly direct debit or monthly/quarterly in advance. You have to pay your service charge even if it seems expensive. Click here for details of the various methods of payment available.

At the end of the 12 month period we will calculate the actual service charges and will let you know if you have paid too much or not paid enough to cover the costs.

If you have paid too much you are entitled to a refund and we will pay you the money you are owed by cheque or you can offset this against the service charges for the next 12 months.

If you have not paid enough you may either pay the amount you owe to us as a one-off payment or have your service charges increased by the amount owing over the remainder of the current financial year.

If you think your service charge is unreasonable you can talk to us. We will check the charges and if they we have made a mistake, we will correct it. If the charge is correct we will explain why.

You can download a copy of the Leaseholder Service Charges here.

If you are still not happy you can appeal. Derby Homes and the Derby Leaseholders Association (DLA) have agreed an appeals procedure you can follow. Copies of the procedure are available from Derby Homes or the DLA. If the service charge is upheld at your appeal and you do not pay it, Derby Homes could take legal action to end your lease.