Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the reasonableness and value for money of service charges levied by housing associations on their tenants.

The Government believes very strongly that service charges should be transparent and communicated effectively. The way a service charge is organised (for example, what it covers and how it is worked out) is set out in the lease or tenancy agreement. The law is clear that variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, the work or services must be of a reasonable standard. The Government believes that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong.

The Government’s policy statement on rents for social housing (published in February 2019) encourages registered providers of social housing to keep increases for services charges in line with inflation, within CPI+1% per annum, to help keep charges affordable. It also states that tenants should be supplied with clear information on how service charges are set, and in the case of social rent properties, providers are expected to identify service charges separately from the rent charge.

The Regulator of Social Housing’s Rent Standard says that registered providers must comply with all the requirements and expectations of the Government’s Rent Policy Statement on the setting, increase and decrease of rents and service charges.