Ask The Experts

Your lease will tell you if your service charge is fixed or variable.  Most service charges are variable in which case your landlord can increase your service charge but it does need to be reasonable.

Most modern leases allow a landlord to collect money in advance to establish a sinking fund to cover the cost of cyclical or expensive work such as decoration of the outside of a building or structural repairs such as roof works.  It is collected over successive years so that monies are in place when these larger works need to be carried out.

You can write to your managing agent or landlord to request a summary of your service charge account which should be provided to you within one month of your request or within six months of the end of the accounting period whichever is the later; you also have the right to ask to see receipts, invoices etc for the last accounting year.