Housing Ombudsman issues report setting out key learning and guidance on service charges

The Housing Ombudsman has provided updated guidance on the “often contentious” area of service charges in its latest Insight report.

The Ombudsman said service charges contained “many grey areas that confuse and frustrate both residents and landlords”, adding that this frequently results in broken down relationships.

The report contains key information about the role of the Housing Ombudsman in these disputes, the role of the First Tier Tribunal and courts, as well as key learning from the Ombudsman’s casework.

There are cases in this report where the landlord has charged for services outside the agreement and then been heavy-handed in the complaints procedure when trying to regularise the payments, the Ombudsman said. This includes forcing the resident to sign amendment deeds.

Other cases included a service failure by a landlord because the final account and actual costs were not consistent and did not include information about the section 20 notice and bill.

The Ombudsman called on landlords to be clear about whether they are able to charge or not by consulting the tenancy agreement, not assuming its content. Where mistakes are then made, it should provide redress and not seek to pressure the resident into accepting charges going forward.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said the cost of living crisis and rising charges had resulted in service charges being one of the most complex and contentious areas examined by the Ombudsman Service, and where there can be a significant breakdown in relationships.

He added: “Landlords must use this report as an opportunity to focus on what good complaint handling looks like on charges to provide greater transparency and better communication customer service. It can them help improve signposting and expectation management around charges, as well as familiarising themselves with our jurisdictional guidance on this important subject.

“For residents, it is an opportunity to see where landlords have gone wrong on charges and which complaints can be brought to the Ombudsman and what we are unable to deal with. We work closely with the First Tier Tribunal and have included case studies in this report from them to show their work in this area.”

The full report can be accessed here.

Harry Rodd