We’ve looked at the overall picture of service charges, and picked out some significant factors that could cause you to have a deficit on your estimate.
Your actual statement has all the information that you need with regards to costs and services. If you have any queries about it, or want to challenge something, the best way to do so is with our easy online form.
Buildings Insurance
Companies that provide building insurance to the social housing sector have reduced considerably. Those left don’t want to take on as much risk, so have reduced the number of policies they cover. This means that the cost of the insurance has increased significantly.
We’re working hard with our insurance brokers to bring more companies back into the market. This will create more competition, and we’re hopeful that if could drive down the costs. We’ll continue to work to find the best the market has to offer.
Increased energy prices
Communal gas bills, including communal heating and communal electricity bills
The price of electricity is influenced heavily by global gas prices. When the price of gas goes up, so do electricity bills.
As countries began to recover from the pandemic, demand for gas started to increase, but there was a shortage in supply. When demand is high and supply is low, prices go up. This is the same with anything we buy. At the end of 2021 gas prices started to increase significantly, continuing into 2022. The war in Ukraine also pushed up prices.
The estimate we included in your service charges was calculated in November 2021, before the increases in gas prices. Due to the above factors, we’ve had to spend much more than what we thought on energy.
All this has resulted in large deficits to many customers.
Managing agent fees
For some customers, we own the estate or block, and another company manages it for us. They’ll do exactly the same that we do when it comes to paying for the services, and recharging to customers.
Because they’re experiencing the same increases in costs and inflation, the amounts they charge have increased the same way ours have.