Rent and service charges: Homeowners

Please visit our online portal where you can register to manage your account online. 

If you need help setting up your account, you can email inclusion@placesforpeople.co.uk or request a call back by calling us on 01772 666246.

The amount you pay will depend on your lease agreement, start date of your agreement and the type of home you have with us. If you don’t know what type of tenancy you have your tenancy or lease agreement will tell you. The rent review applied to market rent, mortgage rescue and shared ownership properties will be determined by the relevant clause within your lease or tenancy agreement. This will specify how much the rent can increase. 

If you live in a home where services are provided to any part of your building or Community, you’ll pay a charge to cover the cost of delivering those services. 

Service charges, outlined in your lease or transfer document, are payable annually. We’re responsible for maintaining our buildings and looking after shared areas in and around our blocks and Communities. You’ll therefore contribute to the cost of this through the service charge payment. 

Examples of services that may be funded through the service charge: 

• Cleaning and landscaping
• Maintenance of communal areas, including painting, replacement of communal windows and roof repairs
• Lift maintenance
• Utilities – gas, electricity and water
• Health and safety of services, including inspection, fire safety, legionella testing, electrical checks
• Home Ownership Management Fee (see below). 

In addition, some homeowners are also charged a service charge to cover: 

• Building insurance
• A contribution towards a reserve fund. 

Before the start of each financial year, we estimate the cost of the services provided and charge you for your share of that estimate. These estimates are worked out using information from our contractors and by analysing past costs. Charges reflect the costs of delivering these services; there is no profit included in service charge amounts. 

Service charges are reviewed annually and can increase or decrease based on several factors, for example, inflation or market changes, supplier and contractor price changes, material costs, overheads and service level.   

Our aim is to ensure you know exactly what you’re paying for and how these charges contribute to your Community. 

Your annual utility charges are based on usage and take into account inflation as well as the contract prices set by utility companies. It covers the cost of electricity and power, for example, power to lifts, communal boilers, air source heat pumps and water pumps. Also, the cost of fuel charges for the communal areas and hot water.  

We regularly review and negotiate contracts with energy providers. This includes checking multiple suppliers and choosing the most competitive option available. Locking in contracts early when prices are favourable allows us to protect Customers from sudden increases and keep charges more stable.  

Your Council Tax covers the cost of regular refuse collections. However, when abandoned items such as old sofas, fridges, or washing machines cannot be collected through normal services, we have a duty of care under health and safety regulations to keep areas around your Community clear of bulky or abandoned items. There is a cost to collect these items.   

We encourage all Customers to book bulk item collections directly with your local council to keep these charges as low as possible. 

This charge covers at least one of the following: lightning protection, door servicing, electronic gate servicing, washer, or dryer ventilation servicing.  

This charge helps cover the cost of wear and tear, replacement, or provision of communal carpets, furniture, grit boxes, washing machines, or washing lines. 

This charge relates to building insurance. Under the terms of your lease (where applicable), we’re required to insure the building on behalf of leaseholders against risks such as fire and flood. The cost of this insurance is then recharged to leaseholders and shared owners.  

Your buildings insurance protects the structure of your home and the shared parts of your building. This includes: 

• Walls, floors, ceilings and roof
• Windows and doors
• Pipes and fixed internal services
• Shared areas such as corridors, stairways and external walls
• Damage caused by events such as fire, flood, storm or escape of water 

You’ll receive a copy of the full policy within 30 days of your new rent year starting. More information about your policy can also be found on our Homeowner Buildings Insurance webpage.  

Important: This insurance does not cover your personal belongings inside your home, like furniture, clothing, electronics, or other personal belongings. For those, you will need separate contents insurance, which you are responsible for.    

Insurance companies set the premiums, which are rising across the market due to increasing claim costs. These costs are driven by higher prices for building materials, energy, labour, and insurers’ operational costs. 

Even if you haven’t made a claim, insurers may increase the premiums they charge to ensure they can meet their obligations. 

You can find more information on our Homeowner Buildings Insurance webpage. It’s important that you read this information to understand your insurance premium in more detail. 

The insurance premium shown in your breakdown is based on the most recent confirmed annual rate. Our insurer, Zurich Municipal, will confirm the final premium rates for 2026/27 in March 2026. Any difference will be reflected in your end of year service charge statement. Early indications are that the premiums will increase by 20.4%. 

The Homeowner Management Charge covers the costs of managing your property and Community. It funds essential activities like: 

• Collecting rents and service charges
• Service charge accounting and administration
• Staffing costs
• Managing routine enquiries and direct services
• Monitoring service contracts and inspections
• General property management. 

This charge is for major works costs, for planned or cyclical maintenance such as roof replacements, new lifts, external redecoration, and redecoration of communal areas inside a building. Before any major works are started, we’ll consult with shared owners and leaseholders in accordance with Section 20 Legislation and advise how much the work is estimated to cost.  

We have increased all maintenance reserve contributions in line with inflation and increasing building /maintenance costs experienced to help make sure reserves are sufficient.   

Additionally, for some Customers where reserves have been identified as low and/or the planned investment team has identified that investment is likely to be needed, an additional increase of £10 per month has been applied.  More detailed surveys of buildings will be carried out in 2026/27 to further inform reserve fund requirements.

What is a heat network? 

Your home is heated by a communal heat network, which supplies heating and hot water to multiple homes from a central system. This means you don’t have your own individual boiler. 

How are my heating and hot water charges worked out? 

In some homes, heating and hot water are not individually metered. Instead of being billed on usage, your charge reflects your share of the total cost of running the heat network. These costs are reviewed each year and are based on energy prices, fuel costs, and inflation. Charges are collected through your service charge and are set on a not-for-profit basis. 

What are communal utility charges? 

Communal charges cover energy used in shared areas and equipment, such as lifts and communal lighting, pumps and plant rooms, boilers or air source heat pumps serving the building. These costs are also included in your service charge. 

Who regulates heat networks? 

From 1 April 2025, Customers can contact the Energy Ombudsman for independent advice if a complaint can’t be resolved with us. 

From 27 January 2026, Ofgem will formally regulate heat networks, introducing stronger consumer protections. 

What if I have a concern? 

Please contact Places for People first so we can try to resolve your issue. If we’re unable to do so, you can contact the Energy Ombudsman for free, independent support. 

Service charges may be included as part of your housing benefit eligible rent. All service charges are assessed in line with Housing Benefit regulations to determine which charges, if any, can be covered by Housing Benefit. 

We’ll provide a breakdown in your annual increase letter to show you what’s eligible. Services marked as “HBE” (Housing Benefit Eligible) can be paid, and those marked as “HBI” (Housing Benefit Ineligible) cannot. This is decided by Housing Benefit Regulations.  

The Universal Credit Housing Costs element may include an amount towards your service charges. These service charges must be a condition of your transfer or lease agreement. If you have any questions about the eligibility of your service charges, please contact the Universal Credit Service Centre on 0800 328 5644. 

Universal Credit  

If you claim Universal Credit, you’ll need to report this change using your online Universal Credit account or by using the Universal Credit helpline 0800 328 5644, quoting your new rent and service charge amounts.    

 Reporting the change must be done as soon as possible after the new charge starts.  

 Housing Benefit   

Please contact your Local Authority to report the change. Some local Housing Benefit departments may accept an email or posted copy from you, please check with them first.  

Direct Debit 

We’ll amend your payment automatically and send you a separate letter confirming your Direct Debit instalment amounts.  

If you would like to start making payments by Direct Debit, you can download a Direct Debit mandate or call us on 01772 666444, and we can set this up for you over the telephone.   

Standing Order    

We cannot change your standing order for you. You need to contact your bank directly. 

We want to support Customers who may need help if they are experiencing financial difficulty. If you would like to talk to us about the support available, please contact our Customer Contact Centre on 01772 666246 as soon as possible. You can also find help and resources on our Cost of Living support page.  

If you don’t currently receive Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, you should check whether you’re now entitled to it following the change to your charges. You can do so by visiting www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators or by calling the Universal Credit Service Centre on 0800 328 5644.  

These are the questions asked most often by our Customers. If these do not answer your question, please:

• Send us an email to rent.changes@placesforpeople.co.uk
• Call our Customer Service team on 01772 666246. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm (excluding Bank Holidays).