Accommodation service charges and Universal Credit

You may be able to claim some of the service charges for your accommodation as part of your Universal Credit housing costs.

Accommodation you can’t claim service charges for

Service charges can’t be claimed for:

a tent
a care home
exempt accommodation
a loan taken out to pay service charges on the property

Service charges you may be able to claim

to maintain the accommodation, for example internal/external maintenance
for upkeep of communal areas, for example communal gardens, lighting, maintenance
for health & safety of communal areas such as hallways
for basic services, such as maintenance, cleaning or repair of communal lifts and staircases, refuse collection, CCTV, caretaker costs
for accommodation-specific charges such as rental of furniture or essential appliances

Service charges you can’t claim

Service charges that will not be included in your Universal Credit payments include, for example:

rates
individual living expenses, such as heating, lighting and hot water for your accommodation
meals
personal services, such as laundry or cleaning service
nursing or personal care services, for example help with personal hygiene, eating and dressing
provision of an emergency alarm system
counselling, medical or support services any medical expenses, including those relating to the provision of counselling
transport
any licenses or permits
maintenance of un-adopted roads
installation, maintenance or repair of any special equipment or adaptations for your accommodation to meet your needs
individual emergency alarm systems
fee-based television, such as a satellite television
communal social areas such as a gym, hairdressers, café or swimming pool
gardening for a personal garden
payments for furniture and recreational facilities in communal rooms, such as TVs, computers, internet connection and TV licences
water, sewerage and utility charges relating to anything other than communal areas
arrears of service charges
building insurance

Service charges that include allowed and disallowed charges

If your service charges include both charges you can and can’t claim, only the allowed charges will be taken into consideration in working out how much you are entitled to.

For example:

A caretaker is employed to carry out a range of maintenance services at a cost of £300 per week.

The landlord determines that the caretaker will normally spend 20 per cent of his time carrying out work directly related to allowed service charges each week.

20 per cent of the cost is £60 a week.

There are 50 tenants. £60 divided by 50 tenants = £1.20p.

The allowed weekly amount, for each tenant, is therefore £1.20p.

Information your landlord needs to give you

Your landlord should give you a breakdown of the service charges you pay:

the allowed service charges and what they are for
how often these charges are to be paid
the overall total amount of allowed service charges you need to pay

Service charge decision

If the service charges you claim are more than expected for the property, you may be contacted to make sure they are correct and to confirm they do not include disallowed service charges.

If a decision is taken not to include some service charges and you disagree, you can ask for this decision to be reviewed or you can appeal the decision.

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