2026/2027 Service Charge Breakdown
A line-by-line breakdown of our £203.18 monthly service charge and what Southern Housing claims these fees cover.
Transparency starts with knowing exactly where our money goes. Based on the 2026/2027 estimates, each flat is billed £203.18 per month (£2438.16 annually).
Below is the exact breakdown of these costs, placed alongside Southern Housing's official definitions, and scored on a Pants-on-Fire (1-10) scale to highlight the worst offenders.
London Benchmarking & Reality Check
Our total annual block budget is roughly £36,572. For a basic 15-unit building with no concierge or luxury amenities, while this is 'average', recent legislation has been brought in specifically to counter inflated service charges for which this county has the highest in the EU. We can do better.
- Door Entry (£748 total): The Noralsy GSM intercom has been completely broken since August. Billing leaseholders for a maintenance contract on a dead system is a breach of Section 27A of the Landlord & Tenant Act (services must be of a "reasonable standard").
- Fire Systems & Repairs (£1,996 total): We are paying nearly £2k a year for fire safety, yet the Floor 2 fire door is sticky and has been wedged open for over a year. This is a severe post-Grenfell safety compliance failure. Not to mention their fire report doesn't even mention it.
- Grounds Maintenance (£1,753 total): We have a 20m2 grass about 6m of shoulder-height hedge. We are paying £146 a month for a space a local gardener would maintain for £40-60.
- In-House Cleaning (£3,913 total): 200m2 of corridor takes a professional 1.5 hours to clean. At £3.9k a year, we are overpaying by at least £1,300.
- Management Fee (£4,654 total): We pay a market rate (£310/unit), but we receive sub-market service when it comes to response times (fire door, intercom) and transparency (vague and inflated section 20 and 20B estimates). Management fees are effectively a 100% loss of capital if the agent fails to perform their core statutory duties.
The 'Communal Boiler' Charge
Many residents noticed a "Boiler" charge appearing on their Southern Housing portal estimates, despite the fact that Odyssey House does not have a communal boiler (every flat has an individual boiler that you are personally responsible for servicing). When challenged by a resident, Southern simply renamed the line item to "Charge" on the portal rather than removing the cost. RTM gives us the power to legally audit and delete these categories. These 'charges' have since been distributed into other columns. Our Section 22 Request will uncover what happened.
Line-by-Line Breakdown
This is a line-by-line breakdown, straight from the most recent booklet for April 2026. Yours may differ slightly.
| Charge Item | Monthly | Annual | Comment | Pants-on-Fire Score 🔥 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certification fee | £1.44 | £17.28 | The cost of getting your annual service charge statement independently certified, so you can be confident our charges are fair and accurate. | 2/10 |
| Building insurance | £22.67 | £272.04 | The cost of the insurance that protects the building against damage and structural issues. | 3/10 |
| Bulk refuse (estate) | £7.11 | £85.32 | The cost for removing large waste items, including furniture or appliances left around the estate. | 7/10 |
| Cleaning service (in-house) | £21.74 | £260.88 | The cost of keeping the inside of your block clean. This includes cleaners' wages, cleaning products and equipment, vehicles, mobile phones and other tools needed. | 8/10 🔥 |
| Communal window cleaning | £0.84 | £10.08 | The cost of cleaning windows in shared areas of your building, such as entrance doors, lobby windows, stairwell and landing windows, and other windows in communal spaces. | 1/10 |
| Landlords' electricity | £6.12 | £73.44 | The cost of electricity used in shared areas of your building. This includes lighting in hallways, stairwells and entrance areas, power for communal equipment such as door entry systems or lifts, and external lighting around the building. | 4/10 |
| Electric power points | £4.67 | £56.04 | The cost of checking and maintaining electric power points and equipment. This includes regular safety checks to make sure sockets work properly and meet safety standards. | 10/10 🔥 |
| Fire system repairs | £6.09 | £73.08 | The cost of maintaining and repairing the fire safety systems and equipment in your building. This includes fire alarms, smoke detectors and other essential safety devices. | 10/10 🔥 |
| Grounds maintenance | £9.74 | £116.88 | The cost of looking after shared outdoor areas around your block, such as grass cutting, trimming hedges and maintaining flower beds. This includes staff salary costs, materials, equipment and vehicle hire. | 10/10 🔥 |
| Fire systems servicing | £5.00 | £60.00 | The cost of regularly servicing the fire safety systems in your building. This includes fire alarms, smoke detectors and emergency lighting. | 8/10 🔥 |
| Door entry | £4.16 | £49.92 | The cost of servicing and maintaining powered door entry systems for your building. | 10/10 🔥 |
| Management fee | £25.86 | £310.32 | The cost to manage the services we provide, including the cost of calculating and billing your service charges, checking and processing invoices, paying suppliers, looking after service charge accounts and collecting service charge payments. It also includes procuring contracts, monitoring and managing contract performance, and the IT equipment and overheads needed to deliver these services. | 10/10 🔥 |
| Lift servicing | £19.84 | £238.08 | The cost of regular servicing and maintenance of lifts in your block to ensure they meet safety standards. | 8/10 🔥 |
| Block repairs | £26.37 | £316.44 | The cost of repairs to the communal areas of the block. | 7/10 |
| Reserve/sinking fund | £41.53 | £498.36 | Used for future works and replacements. | 1/10 |
| TOTAL | £203.18 | £2438.16 |
What These Services Actually Cost
Here is the result of our research into typical costs on the open market in London for a 15-unit, 4-floor building of our exact size. When you run your own RTM company, these are the kinds of numbers we will be aiming for. Please note that these are good-faith estimates. We cannot know the true cost of everything until we complete the Financial Review and actually tender the contracts.
| Service | Southern Housing | Realistic Market Rate | Annual Savings | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building insurance | £272.04/year | £197–£247/year | ~£25 | Not bad for building insurance overall. We may be able to improve. |
| Bulk refuse (estate) | £85.32/year | £6–£8/year | ~£77 | Wandsworth provides 2 a year, and additional collections are £24. We are not disposing an amount equivalent to 225 couches a year. |
| Cleaning service (in-house) | £260.88/year | £138–£173/year | ~£88 | 200 sq/m takes 1.5-2 hours. Weekly at £20-£25/hour = £2,080-£2,600 annually |
| Electric power points | £56.04/year | £2–£3/year | ~£53 | EICR required every 5 years (£200-£300 total). Visual checks rolled into routine inspections. Undelivered service. |
| Fire system repairs | £73.08/year | £26–£33/year | ~£40 | Floor 2 fire door broken/propped open for a year. Paying for repairs that never happen. |
| Grounds maintenance | £116.88/year | £26–£33/year | ~£84 | 10x10m patch needs monthly visits Mar-Oct at £40-£50/visit. £1,753/yr is inflated mega-contractor pricing. |
| Fire systems servicing | £60.00/year | £32–£40/year | ~£20 | Standard rate, but invalid if repairs aren't done |
| Door entry | £49.92/year | £28–£36/year | ~£13 | GSM system broken since August 2025. Should be fully refunded. Market rate when working: £300-£400/year. |
| Management fee | £310.32/year | £144–£180/year | ~£130 | SW17 market rates: Prime (£230), CKD (£180), Urang (£150+VAT=£180). 0% VfM from Southern Housing. |
| Lift servicing | £238.08/year | £80–£100/year | ~£138 | 2012 lift is reliable. Standard LOLER inspections (2-4 visits/year) + basic maintenance = £1,200-£1,500 on open market. |
| Block repairs | £316.44/year | £106–£133/year | ~£183 | SUBJECT TO SECTION 22 REQUEST: this seems relatively high for day-to-day repairs (lightbulbs, minor fixes). All repair requests for this year are related to the still-broken intercom. |
Total RTM Savings Potential
When you take control of these line items and tender them to local, independent contractors, the result is significant. A low service charge freehold / commonhold means more money retained by the residents and a higher value on your property.
Projected Cost Comparison (Per Flat)
Compare total service charge costs across different ownership models. All figures per flat.
You are effectively paying a substantial premium per household purely to fund Southern Housing's inefficiencies and inflated mega-contractors. These savings don't even include potential reductions in insurance or other questionable charges.
Key Financial Takeaways for Right to Manage
When we execute our Right to Manage (RTM), we gain control over this entire budget.
1. The Reserve/Sinking Fund
Every year, each flat contributes £498.36 to the sinking fund. For the whole 15-unit building, that is £7475 collected annually. Under RTM legislation, Southern Housing is legally required to hand over all unspent reserve funds to our new resident-controlled RTM Company. We get to keep our savings.
2. The Management Fee
We are currently paying Southern Housing £4654.80 a year across our 15 units (£310.32/flat) just to "manage" our contracts and invoices.
SW17 Market Rate Comparison (2026)
| Agent | Yearly Fee (Per Unit) | Monthly Fee | Total Building (15 Units) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Housing (Current) | £310.32 | £25.86 | £4,654.8 |
| Prime Property Management | £230.00 | £19.16 | £3,450 |
| CKD Estates Limited | £180.00 | £15.00 | £2,700 |
| Urang Group | £150.00* | £12.50 | £2,250 |
* Urang Group fee is £150 + VAT. With 20% VAT, total is £180/year (£15/month).
By switching to a market-rate agent like CKD or Urang, we reduce management fees to £2,700/year or (£180/flat), saving £1,955/year building-wide while ensuring the agent actually answers the phone when a door breaks.
Switching agents after RTM is easy: The first RTM switch is a statutory battle. Every subsequent agent switch is administrative—just like changing your broadband provider.
3. Contract Tendering
Items like Block repairs, Cleaning, and Grounds maintenance are heavily inflated. Under RTM, we will strip Southern Housing of these contracts and go to the open market, ensuring we only pay for contractors who deliver high-quality work at fair prices. Combined savings on these three items alone: ~£354/year per flat.
Council Services: Free Waste Collections
Wandsworth Council provides two free bulky waste collections per household every year—a valuable service many residents don't know about.
What You Get For Free
Each free collection includes:
- Up to 4 bulky items (furniture, appliances, mattresses, etc.)
- Or up to 12 refuse sacks (3 sacks = 1 item)
- Collection on your usual recycling day
If You Need More
Once you've used your two free collections:
- £24 for up to 4 items
- £10.70 per additional item beyond 4
Why This Matters
Many buildings include commercial waste removal in their service charges. If you're paying for bulky waste collection through your service charge but the council already provides this for free, that's money you could save under RTM by using the council service instead.
To book a collection, visit Wandsworth Council's bulky waste service or call 020 8871 8558.
Bonus: Building-Wide Fibre Internet
Here's a perk that goes beyond just service charge savings: we can bring top-tier 1Gbps fibre directly to your flat for half what you're likely paying right now. And, if you need more than that, you can upgrade to 2.5Gbps. This can be entered into at-will, meaning you can easily switch over when your existing contract ends.
The Numbers
- Current retail rate: £30/month (the UK average)
- Bulk building rate: £14/month per flat (and £6 to upgrade to 2.5Gbps)
- Your savings: £16/month (£192/year)
- The speed: 1Gbps (almost twice the UK average)
What You Get
- 1Gbps full-fibre direct to your flat
- Guaranteed faster speeds than most current consumer plans
- No individual contract hassles—managed at building level
- Lower monthly cost with better performance
Calculate Your Savings
Your Internet Cost Comparison
Adjust the sliders to match your current internet plan and see how much you could save with building-wide fibre.
Why This Works
When we negotiate as a building under RTM, internet providers offer bulk rates that individual residents can't access. You get enterprise-grade connectivity at a fraction of retail pricing.
This is just one example of the collective bargaining power we gain through Right to Manage. Better services, lower costs, more control.
RTM Setup Costs
The Right to Manage process has one-time setup costs. Here's the breakdown based on standard RTM application fees, from a provider like RTMNow.
HAUS As discussed, I have attached two brochures for your review. The first outlines the RTM process, our fee for handling the RTM application would be £2,070 + VAT (£2,484).
| Cost Item | Building Total | Per Flat | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site fee | £240.00 +VAT | £16.00 +VAT | Professional assessment and application preparation |
| Per unit fee | £1425.00 +VAT | £95.00 +VAT | £95 per flat for statutory RTM processing |
| Company incorporation | £50.00 | £3.33 | Companies House registration for RTM company |
| Disbursements | £100.00 | £6.67 | Legal fees, postage, administrative costs |
| Landlord's reasonable costs | £600.00 | £40.00 | Statutory requirement to cover landlord's legal costs (if any) |
| TOTAL (inc. VAT) | £2748.00 | £183.20 |
Payback Period
With annual savings of £12,761, the RTM setup cost is recovered in approximately 2.6 months.
Is It Worth It?
The setup cost is a one-time investment that pays for itself in under 3 months. After that, you're saving money every single month while gaining full control over service quality, contractor selection, and budget allocation.