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Tenant Service Charges

Redditch Borough Council are introducing service charges to our tenants who live in blocks where there are communal areas.

Overview

In our Annual Report we reported we recognised that the standard of communal areas in our blocks of flats needed to improve. In response, we have mobilised a new caretaker service to raise standards and ensure that ALL our shared spaces have caretakers to ensure they are clean, safe, and welcoming – not just some.

If you live in a block with a shared area, you may well have seen our caretakers carrying out their duties.

Affected tenants of all types (introductory, secure and licence) will be receiving a direct letter through the post notifying them of the new service charge.  

The service charge payment is separate to rent and covers a range of communal services including cleaning of shared areas, conducting block inspections before each clean to identify and report repairs. Maintain fire signage and noticeboards. Carry out weekly fire alarm tests and monthly emergency lighting checks

This service will help us meet fire safety regulations and improve tenant satisfaction with communal areas, and at a reasonable cost that is covered by Housing Benefit and Universal Credit. If you live in one of our blocks of flats, look out for a letter from us soon as we will be writing to you directly.

More information is available in our Frequently Asked Questions.

Financial Support Fund

Service charges for Redditch Council will come into effect on 3rd November 2025.

For council tenants only, if you are experiencing difficulty in paying your service charge you can make an application to a support fund.

If you would like to discuss this further or would like more information about the fund, please contact our Revenue Team

We know this is a new service charge for affected Redditch Council tenants and can be confusing. To help you we have put together some frequently asked questions to try and answer your queries.

Introduction

If you’re finding the cost of living a struggle at the minute our Revenue Team is here to help. They can offer support and advice with benefits. If you have had a change in your pay or benefits, please get in touch with us. The team can let you know of any benefits that you may be able to claim and help you make a claim if you are entitled.  

  • Email: housingrevenue@redditchbc.gov.uk
  • Telephone: 01527 587000 option 1

If you are a Redditch Council tenant and will be paying service charges, you will receive a letter advising what the service charge will be. It will also provide information on action you need to take if in receipt of universal credit housing costs.

The service charge is a separate payment to rent, and these FAQs should answer your questions, however if you have any questions or suggestions, you think we should add to this list, please let us know.

 

Frequently asked questions and answers

A service charge is a payment made by a tenant or a leaseholder towards the cost of shared services and repairs. For example, if you live in a block of flats with a shared communal enclosed area, the cost of maintaining that area is covered by a service charge, because it’s available to all residents as a communal service and it’s outside of your flat.

Redditch Council service charges are fixed charges which have been estimated and set for the financial year.

Both tenants and leaseholders pay the service charge.  If you are a Redditch 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. Your rent payment 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 in the immediate block or area, for example, a lift in a block of flats, or communal cleaning.

Service charge estimate: 

When setting the service charge each year, we estimate a cost based on the last known actual expenditure, with adjustments for contracts in place, estimates of inflation and other costs. Each year these are reviewed to ensure we are charging you the correct amount for the services you receive. If the amount we charge you exceeds the costs to the council we will take this into account when setting the charges for the next year and reduce the charge to you. If the amount we charge you does not cover the costs to the council we will take this into account and increase the charge to you.

Each year a service charge estimate is prepared before the start of the new financial year (April) and will be sent to you in February along with your annual rent notification. 

The service charge will be £6.40 per week for tenants in homes with communal areas. The service charges are individual to each tenant and a tenant will only pay for the services which are relevant to where they live.

If you are a Redditch Council tenant, an amount is included in your rent to cover the cost of repairs within your home.

If you are a Redditch Council leaseholder, the responsibility for repairs is a condition of your lease.

As part of our responsibility as a social housing provider, we must provide you with certain services so that we keep you and your home safe. We then charge you for the services that apply to your home. The service charge that you pay depends on what your agreement is with us, and whether you are a tenant or homeowner.

You will NOT be charged for a service you do not receive.

If you do not receive the service, it will show as £0.00 on your notification.

The new service will be delivered by a dedicated team, which includes keeping your communal areas clean and carrying out routine safety checks.

Please contact us, detailing which part of the service was not up to standard. We will investigate, as well as liaise with the contract manager for the service, and respond to you. 

Services not covered by housing benefit are mainly services that are personal to the customer, for example, personal water, gas and electricity consumption

Service charges eligible to be covered by housing benefit usually relate to services in communal areas. This includes charges relating to cleaning and maintenance.

Your Universal Credit or housing benefit claim is your responsibility.

Universal Credit:

The rules for Universal Credit (UC) are slightly different to housing benefit however, most service charges are still covered by the housing element of UC.

Action needed:

If you are a Redditch Council tenant claiming or being paid Universal Credit you must log on to your UC Journal when you receive your service charge notification and advise UC what your weekly/monthly rent will be from your formal notice date. This is to make sure they can amend your payments.

  • Please do not notify DWP until you receive your notice in writing. If you do not tell them about any changes to your rent or service charge, you could lose benefit to which you are entitled or have to pay back any overpaid benefits

If you do not tell them about any changes to your rent or service charge, you could lose benefit to which you are entitled or have to pay back any overpaid benefits.

Sign in to your Universal Credit account

More information about UC is available on the government website.

If you need to help updating your universal credit claim, please contact us on 01527 587000 option 1.

Housing benefit:

If we receive housing benefit, we will send notification directly to the housing benefit department regarding the implementation of your service charge

You should talk to us straight away if you think you are getting the wrong amount of benefit. If you do not tell us about this change, you could lose benefit to which you are entitled or have to pay back any overpaid benefits.

  • Telephone: 01527 587000 option 1

If you are unhappy with the services being provided, for example with the standard of cleaning, we would like to know.

We meet with the caretaker Manager regularly and, if we believe the service is not as good as it should be, it really helps us to have real examples.

This will ensure we provide the services you expect to receive.

The charges will be set for your block; you can of course clean your communal area, but you will still receive a charge.

We are happy to answer questions, and we welcome the opportunity to explain anything that is not clear or not contained in these FAQs. Please refer to the posters in your communal areas for details of drop-in sessions throughout October 2025.

Yes. If you or someone you know has difficulty reading the letter and need another format (larger print, braille or another language) please email us

If you need further help to understand the information about your service charge or rent and want someone to talk to us on your behalf – for example, your support worker or a friend – please get in touch

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