If you own a leasehold property, you’re about to get stronger rights

If you own a leasehold property, you’ll soon have stronger rights to challenge service charges and find out exactly what you’re paying for.

More than three million people in the UK own leasehold properties. If you’re one of them, these changes could make it easier for you to question costs, get answers from your landlord and protect yourself from unfair charges.

What are leasehold service charges?

If you own a leasehold property, such as a flat or apartment, you own the right to live there for a set number of years. The building itself belongs to a landlord, also known as a freeholder.

As a leaseholder, you’ll usually pay service charges to your landlord or management company.

These charges cover your share of the costs of looking after the building and any shared spaces. This could include repairs, maintenance and general management.

What’s changing?

From 2027, you’ll get stronger rights to understand and challenge the service charges you pay, including asking your landlord for information about your service charges.

This means you’ll be able to:

• See exactly what you’re paying for: you’ll get a clearer picture of how your building is managed, maintained, repaired and insured.
• Ask for information from previous years: you’ll be able to request historic service charge information, and your landlord will need a good reason if they refuse to provide it.
• Get better protection from legal costs: you’ll have stronger protection against being made to pay your landlord’s legal costs when they challenge a service charge.

At the moment, the risk of having to pay your landlord’s legal costs can put leaseholders off challenging a charge, even if they think it’s unfair.

The new protections are designed to remove this barrier, so you can feel more confident questioning costs.

From 1 November 2027, you’ll get clearer information about your charges

From November, you’ll automatically receive clearer, more detailed information about the service charges you’re being asked to pay.

These changes will apply whether your building is owned by a private landlord, your local council or a housing association.

You’ll also get:

• More detailed information about the building insurance you help pay for.
• Better protection against excessive or unreasonable fees for arranging and managing building insurance.
• Clearer information about any administration fees you could be asked to pay.

This should make it easier to understand what you're being charged and spot costs you may want to question.

From 1 November 2028, you’ll get more consistent information

From the following year, if your landlord is a council or housing association, they’ll also have to provide you with new standardised service charge demand forms, financial accounts and annual reports.

This means you’ll have clearer, more consistent information to help you understand how your money is being spent.

What do to if you’re struggling with rent or other housing costs

If you’re finding it difficult to keep up with your rent, service charges or other housing costs, you may be able to get financial support.

Universal credit

Universal credit may include extra money to help people of working age with rent and service charges. 

This housing element is usually included in your monthly payment and paid directly to your landlord.

You can also apply for additional support from your universal credit if you're dealing with financial hardship.

Housing benefit

If you’re over state pension age, you might qualify for housing benefit through your local council. 

Some people under pension age may also be eligible, particularly if they live in supported or temporary housing.

The amount you receive depends on:

• your age
• where you live
• the size of your household

Discretionary housing payment (DHP)

If your rent is already partly covered by universal credit or housing benefit, you may be able to get a discretionary housing payment (DHP) - short-term payments that can help with rent or other housing costs.

You can apply for a DHP through your local council.

Charity grants

Organisations like Turn2us can help you find and apply for grants and other financial support from charities and local community groups.

Find out what benefits you could claim

If you’re struggling to keep up with household bills, remember that you might be entitled to some support.

We can check you’re getting all the benefits you’re eligible to claim with our benefits calculator.