Service charge A - Z

A - C

D - E

  • Decant Property charge
  • Depreciation communal equipment
  • Depreciation of SC assets
  • Door Entry / Entryphone
  • Drain Refurbishment
  • Electrical Testing
  • Electricity Consumption
  • EMA Ground Rent
  • EMA Insurance
  • EMA Reserve Fund
  • EMA Services
  • EMA Services (Net Rent Items)
  • Emergency Light Testing
  • Equipment Service and Repairs
  • Estate Communal Maintenance
  • External Audit Fee
  • External Cleansing

F - H

  • Fire Equipment and Risers
  • Furniture and Equipment
  • Gardening Scheme
  • Gas Consumption
  • General Building Works
  • General Service Charge HB
  • Generator
  • Green Roof Maintenance
  • Grounds Maintenance
  • Guest and Room
  • Gym
  • Health & Safety
  • HIU Servicing

I - M

N - R

  • Personal admin charge
  • Personal medical support
  • Personal switch admin charge
  • Pest Control
  • Plant Room Electricity
  • Playground Equipment
  • Postage
  • Pumps
  • Reserve Fund
  • Residents Lounge
  • Responsive Repair - Standing Charge
  • Road & Footpath Maintenance
  • Roller Shutters

S - W

Service charges explained

Access Gates

Covers the operation and servicing car and pedestrian access gates. Includes maintenance of motors, hinges, control panels, safety sensors, intercom links, key fob or keypad access systems, and emergency-release mechanisms. Ensures gates remain safe, functional, and compliant.

Bin Hire / Waste Management

Charges for the hire, provision, and maintenance of communal refuse containers, recycling bins, and bulk waste skips. Also covers private waste collections where council services do not meet requirements, including collection, disposal fees, and bin cleaning or replacement.

Buildings Insurance

Insurance that protects the full building structure against insured risks such as fire, flood, storm damage, impact, subsidence, vandalism, terrorism, and escape of water. The share of costs is based on the reinstatement value of the property, which is the cost of completely rebuilding the property.

Bulk Refuse

Costs related to the removal of large waste items such as furniture, mattresses, white goods, or construction debris. Typically requires specialist waste contractors as these items cannot be collected through standard household waste services. Please note that for many of our estates and blocks, as this is private not public land, the responsibility to maintain and clear this fall on Peabody, who recover for the cost of these services through the service charge. Locals councils are not liable to remove items from public land.

Caretaker

Covers staffing costs for onsite caretaking services. Duties may include daily property inspections, minor reactive repairs, cleaning assistance, key management, addressing resident queries, monitoring contractors, ensuring health and safety compliance, and maintaining general estate standards.

CCTV

Costs for installation, servicing, repair, and operation of communal CCTV systems. Includes cameras, recording devices, wiring, software licences, data storage, and electricity. May also include remote monitoring or maintenance contracts to ensure continuous operation. Please note that additional costs may be liable if recordings are requested.

Communal Cleaning

Regular cleaning of shared internal areas such as entrances, corridors, lifts, lobbies, stairwells and bin stores. Includes labour, equipment, cleaning materials, and periodic deep cleaning tasks needed to maintain hygiene standards.

Find out more about communal cleaning

Communal Electricity

Electricity used to power all communal systems and spaces. Covers lighting (internal and external), lifts, pumps, ventilation systems, door entry panels, access gates, CCTV, and any other electrical communal equipment.

Find out more about communal electricity

Communal Repairs

Responsive and planned repairs to shared parts of the block or estate. Can include repairs to roofs, gutters, external walls, flooring, lighting, doors, fences, pipework, drainage, and any communal mechanical or electrical equipment. Includes labour, materials, and emergency call outs.

Find out more about communal repairs and maintenance

Door Entry / Entryphone

Maintenance and repair of communal access and intercom systems, including call panels, handset units, fob or card readers, magnetic locks, video entry screens, and associated wiring. Ensures secure and reliable access to the building.

Electrical Testing

Statutory and routine inspections of communal electrical installations. Includes EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report), fixed wire testing emergency lighting system tests, consumer unit checks, and any required remedial works to maintain legal electrical safety compliance.

External Audit Fee

Fee for an independent external auditor to review and verify service charge accounts. Ensures financial transparency, accuracy, and compliance with legislation, lease terms, and accounting standards.

External Managing Agent

A specialist third party company appointed to manage the block or estate. Provides administrative, financial, and operational management, including providing services, contractor oversight, compliance management, budgeting, resident communication, and health and safety monitoring.

Please note that on many schemes there is shared responsibility between Peabody and External Managing Agent with different services provided by each at the block or estate.

Find out more about EMAs

Fire Safety

Covers the maintenance and reactive repairs for all fire-safety related elements – this includes: fire alarm servicing, fire door inspections, emergency lighting checks, extinguishers, smoke ventilation systems, signage and fire risk assessments.

Find out more about fire equipment and fire safety maintenance

Grounds Maintenance / Gardening

Maintenance and upkeep of communal outdoor spaces including lawns, hedges, shrubs, trees, borders, planters, and pathways. Routine works include mowing, pruning, planting, weeding, litter picking, leaf clearance, and general landscape care to maintain a safe, attractive environment.

The frequency of visits will vary depending on the time of year, with more intensive activity during the growing season and reduced visits in winter when growth slows. Seasonal tasks may include spring planting, summer lawn care, autumn leaf clearance, and winter preparation to ensure the landscape remains well managed and aesthetically maintained throughout the year.

Please note that grounds maintenance also covers the maintenance of roads and hard surfaces (external car parks and roads) with weed-spraying, litter removal and leaf clearance.

Find out more about grounds maintenance 

Legionella Testing / Water Hygiene

For communal water systems at block or estate level, this is for the maintenance of communal pipes and communal water tanks. 
Includes water temperature monitoring, sampling, tank inspections, descaling, risk assessments, and treatment of water systems to prevent the growth of Legionella bacteria or other harmful organisms.

What is water hygiene and Legionella testing?

Lift Maintenance

This is for the routine servicing, inspection, and repair of lifts. Checks and servicing, includes statutory compliance and checks, call out coverage, replacement of parts, safety checks, lubrication, cleaning of lift pits, and maintenance of lift control systems and motors.

Management Fee

A fee charged by the landlord to cover the administrative cost of managing the block or estate. Can include budgeting, invoicing, compliance monitoring, customer service, contractor procurement, risk management, and overall supervision of service delivery.

Find out more about management fees

Mansafe Equipment

Specialist safety systems allowing contractors to work at height safely, for repairs and maintenance to the building, typically installed on roofs. Includes fall arrest systems, anchored lines, harness attachments, and annual inspection and certification to ensure legal compliance and safety.

Pest Control

Monitoring and treatment programmes aimed at preventing or eliminating pests such as rodents, insects, birds, or wasps. Includes routine visits, baiting, reactive call outs, and preventative proofing works to maintain hygiene and safety in communal spaces.

Playground Equipment

Covers maintenance and repair of communal play areas. This is to ensure that the play areas and playground equipment are accessible and safe to use.

Pumps

Maintenance and repair of mechanical pump equipment such as foul water pumps, storm water pumps, sewage ejectors, and cold water booster sets. Includes servicing contracts, parts replacement, emergency call outs, and functionality testing.

Service Charge Differential

An adjustment applied when individual properties pay different proportions of specific services, based on lease terms, property type, floor level, block location, or level of benefit received. Ensures fair cost allocation across residents.

Service Charge Negative

A credit applied to service charge accounts when actual expenditure for a period is lower than the amount collected. This may be carried forward, used to reduce future charges, or refunded depending on the lease.

Service Charge Reduction

A downward adjustment to a resident’s service charge bill. Can occur due to corrections, policy decisions, rebates, errors identified during audit, or a statutory or voluntary decision to reduce charges for certain services.

Sinking Funds

Long-term sinking funds or reserve funds collected to pay for major planned works, such as roof replacements, lift refurbishment, major fire safety works, or structural repairs. Prevents large one off bills and ensures funds are available for future capital expenditure.

Find out more about sinking funds

Surplus / Deficits (Sur/Def)

This represents the surplus or deficit from the previous financial year’s service charge account, showing the difference between the actual expenditure incurred and the amount that was originally budgeted and collected from residents. When a surplus occurs, it means less was spent than expected; when a deficit occurs, actual costs exceeded the original estimate. In both cases, this balance is carried forward into the following year and applied to residents’ new service charge budgets in accordance with the terms of the lease. As a result, a previous surplus will normally reduce the amount residents need to pay in the following year, while a deficit will increase the monthly or weekly service charge contributions. Depending on the lease and accounting rules, this adjustment may be applied either as a lump sum correction or factored evenly into future periodic payments to ensure charges reflect the true cost of services provided.

Trees & Shrubs Surgery

Works including pruning, crown lifting, tree removal, stump treatments, and maintenance of shrubs and hedging. Ensures safety, prevents damage to structures, and maintains healthy estate vegetation.

Window Cleaning

Scheduled cleaning of external windows in communal areas and internal glazing such as entrance doors, lobbies, and stairwell windows. May involve specialist equipment or access systems for multi storey properties.

Please note that this service is only for communal windows only, this service does not cover private windows for flats and houses.

Find out more about communal cleaning