Management fee
What is a management fee?
The management fee is the cost of managing and administrating leaseholders. This includes staff time in calculating and reconciling accounts, inspection of estates and maintenance issues, dealing with queries, office space, paper, printing, hiring of venues, etc.
Why am I being charged for this?
Management fees are a standard part of any lease. You are required, by the terms of your lease, to pay for the costs of providing the services you receive.
What staff am I paying for?
Home Ownership Team staff for calculating and processing service charges, sales enquiries, lease queries, general first-point-of-contact etc.
Estates Officers for inspections of the estates and anti-social behaviour.
Buildings Surveyors for major work contracts including cyclical work programmes.
Day to Day Repairs Team staff for ad-hoc repairs, inspections and reporting.
Housing Systems Team staff for accurate and up to date information
Management of all these Officers.
What administration am I paying for?
The Leaseholders' Management Fee covers the following administration:
- estimated service charges letters
- actual service charge letter, following reconciliation of accounts
- payment reminders
- newsletters
- Section 20 / Section 166 Notices
Why do I have to pay and CBC tenants don’t?
CBC tenants are not homeowners and, as such, make their contributions to the management of the Housing Service by way of a weekly rent instead of quarterly bills. All management, maintenance and administration is factored into the figure that they pay on a weekly basis.
What if I don’t pay it?
Your lease is a contract between you and your landlord (CBC) and sets out the contractual obligations of the two parties. It sets out your obligations regarding the contribution to the costs and of maintaining and managing the building under the terms of the lease.
If you do not pay, and the landlord can satisfy a tribunal that the charges are properly due and reasonable, then we can bring forfeiture proceedings by applying for a court order.
If the landlord is successful, they can ask for a county court judgement for payment which can affect your ability to obtain credit.
What if I am still not satisfied and believe the charges to be unfair?
Challenging service charges: in the first instance, please seek advice from the Leasehold Advisory Service (link opens in new window) (LEASE).
Any challenges must be made through the First-Tier Tribunal – details can be found on the LEASE (link opens in new window) website.