Service charge FAQs

A service charge is your share towards the cost of arranging and carrying out services and maintenance to your home, building and/or estate.  

If you’re a tenant, the proportion you pay is commonly based on how many properties share a service. 

If you’re a homeowner (leaseholder or shared owner), your lease sets out your proportion of the cost you have to pay.  

Depending on where you live, the service charge can include things such as cleaning, gardening, communal heating and repairs to shared areas. 

You will only be charged for maintenance and services your home, block and/or estate receive, alongside an admin fee. A common explanation of these can be found online in the Thrive Deal at: www.thrivehomes.org.uk/thrivedeal. 

The service charge cycle runs each financial year from 1st April to 31st March. 

You can find useful information on how your service charges work, including a short explanatory video and how you can get involved in shaping our services by visiting: www.thrivehomes.org.uk/servicecharges. 

Each February, you’ll receive a letter detailing what we estimate your service charges to be for the coming year. This is calculated based on what it has cost to run and maintain your home, block and/or estate in previous years as well as any contractual uplifts and inflation.  

On 1st April each year, you will start paying your new estimated service charge amount until the end of the service cycle on 31st March the following year.  

Most Thrive customers are ‘variable’ service charge payers. This means that, once the service charge period ends on 31st March, we will write to you in the following September with your service charge ‘actuals’ statement. This will detail the actual cost for services received in the previous financial year.  

If you’re a tenant, the surplus or shortfall from the actuals will be carried forward into the next financial year and included within the 2026-27 service charge payments. 

If you’re a homeowner, we will credit your account if we have overestimated the cost of the services. If we have underestimated the costs, you will need to pay the outstanding balance within 28 days as advised on the invoice.    

If you are a ‘fixed’ service charge payer, we will estimate your charges in the same way each year. As you pay a fixed rate, there will be balancing charge adjustments required after each the financial year. 

You have received a statement that shows your service charge estimates for the full financial year.  

If you’re a tenant, this must be paid in line with the instalments detailed in your tenancy agreement. 

If you’re a homeowner, this must be paid in line with the instalments detailed in your lease. Thrive will automatically adjust your direct debit from 1st April to reflect the new service charge amount.    

Yes, it is important that you update your journal to inform Universal Credit of the new service charge amount after 6th April 2026. Universal Credit cannot accept this information in advance. 

All blocks have meters that measure how much energy is used. The energy companies charge Thrive based on meter readings, and we charge this back to residents in the block through your service charge.  

Even though we have found a cheaper price per unit, your cost may not go down if your building uses a lot of communal energy. So, please let us know if you see any problems (like lights that are on when they should not be) so we can save energy and money where possible

Our insurance brokers review our premiums on an annual basis to ensure we are seeking the best rates for our customers. This year, the total annual insurance premium has been increased by 18% based on their guidance.  

The tree surveys have taken place by the grounds maintenance contractor and tree works are planned to take place at some estates in 2026-27. 

As a result, you may notice tree works have been included within your service charge estimates for the financial year. 

The new government has been focusing on implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. For service charges, this aims to provide more information and transparency to customers in how these are calculated and processed. We are continuing to monitor the information closely; when we know how any changes will impact you, we will update you.  

We always give customers as much notice as possible about their charges and when payment is required. We partner with a number or organisations including Citizens Advice to provide money advice and support to our customers.  

Please contact us immediately if you are having difficulty managing your payments or need additional support and we will do all we can to help.  

For more money advice, head to: thrivehomes.org.uk/money-help 

There are times in all our lives when we might feel overwhelmed or find it difficult to cope. Speak to us or find out more at: www.thrivehomes.org.uk/wellbeing.  

Whatever the matter, we know someone who can help. We work with several organisations to provide support to our customers, such as: 

• Mental health support  
• Family support  
• Adult support needs  
• Domestic abuse advice and support  
• Young person support services 

We understand that rising service charges can be a concern, and we’re committed to helping you understand how these charges are calculated.  

Each year, we estimate the cost of providing services such as cleaning, gardening, and maintenance. These estimates are based on factors like inflation, contractual uplift clauses, and previous years’ actual costs at your block or estate. We do our best to keep these estimates affordable and in line with industry standards.   

If you have questions about a charge, such as why it has increased or whether it’s payable under your lease or tenancy, the first step is to contact us.  

We will work to clarify or resolve any issues with you. However, please note that we cannot investigate the amount or legality of a charge through our formal complaints process.   

What we can look into are concerns about the quality of the services provided or how we’ve handled the charges - for example, the way we’ve communicated changes with customers.  

If you are not satisfied with our final response and wish to formally challenge the charge itself, including whether it’s reasonable or payable under your lease or tenancy, you may need to refer the matter to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). This is the independent body responsible for resolving disputes about service charge reasonableness.  

Thrive Homes is committed to providing quality services that are fair to everyone. However, sometimes things can go wrong, and we need to know if your experience has fallen below our standards as set out in the Thrive Deal.    

If you would like to submit a complaint about the quality of services you have received, head to thrivehomes.org.uk/complaints or contact us in your usual way.  

Please tell us about issues as soon as they happen so we can put things right as soon as possible. If your complaint is about something that happened over 12 months ago, we may not be able to accept it. You can find out more about what is and isn’t considered a complaint on our website.