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Rent and Service Charges

Ways to pay

There are a wide choice of ways you can pay your rent:

• Direct Debit - the easiest way to pay your rent is by Direct Debit, simply fill in a form and send it to the Finance Department at 56 Kingsclere Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XG. We will organise your rent payment through your bank account to Sentinel. [Download Direct Debit Form]
• Using your AllPay payment card - you can use your Allpay card at the Post Office or any other outlet displaying the PayPoint or PAYzone symbol.
• By cheque - Please make cheques payable to Sentinel Housing Association Ltd and post them or hand them in at our Reception in either the Basingstoke office or the Fleet office. Please write your address or property reference number on the back of the cheque. Receipts will not normally be issued for cheque payments received by post.
• Online at www.sentinelha.org.uk - simply click the ‘pay rent online’ logo on our website and you will be redirected to Allpay.net, our preferred internet payment facility.
• With your debit card by phoning the Customer Service Centre on 0800 195 5515 and speaking to a customer service advisor or, in person,
• at the reception desk when you visit our offices.
• By authorising Housing Benefit payments to be paid directly to Sentinel Housing

 

What does your service charge pay for?

What does my rent pay for?

Income from shared ownership rents is used to pay some of the interest on loans taken out to enable Sentinel to build your home and also to help fund future developments.

What does my service charge pay for?

We collect service charges from you to pay for the services we provide, which vary from scheme to scheme. For example blocks of flats over three storeys will usually have a lift which requires annual servicing and maintenance, and residents of some schemes pay for the additional services of a caretaker. The services you pay for are itemised on your estimate with a X against them. For an explanation of those services and how they are calculated please see below:

1. Buildings Insurance

This relates to your buildings insurance cover and does not cover home contents insurance. The amount is calculated by Sentinel’s insurer. It is based on a set value for the number of bedrooms and type of property, calculated using £ per thousand value insured.

2. Landlords Electricity and lighting

This is mainly lighting costs and relates to any communal lighting you have in or around your block/estate.

3. Landlords Water supply

This charge relates to water charges for your block/estate. In most cases, where a water supply is provided it will be a communal water bill apportioned between residents of the block.

4. Cleaning of communal areas

Internal communal areas are cleaned on a monthly basis. The cost is based on the service(s) provided and calculated by floor area (m²) The specification usually includes mopping/hoovering internal floors, dusting and removal of cobwebs and cleaning of communal windows* etc.

5. Maintenance of Fire Protection Equipment

This cost relates to an annual Health & Safety contract which has been set up to inspect fire protection equipment (such as emergency lighting and smoke vents etc) and undertake repairs as necessary.

6. Maintenance of door entry systems

This cost relates to an annual maintenance contract to service the system and to any day to day repairs required.

7. Maintenance of Communal TV aerial system

Charges are raised on an ad hoc basis, as and when repairs are required.

8. General Repairs

Day to day repairs to communal parts of your building or estate e.g. fences, bin stores etc. (All repairs are recharged to residents unless the repair / damage relates to a buildings insurance claim)

9. Landscaping Maintenance

Many schemes with private communal gardens receive a communal gardening service. The service is based on 17 visits per annum and usually covers grass cutting, pruning, weed control and undertaking tree work as and when necessary.

10. *Communal Window Cleaning

This service is usually provided by the same contractor we use for communal cleaning. Communal windows refers to windows located in the communal areas – please note, residents are individually responsible for cleaning the windows in their own home.

11. Lift

This covers the cost of taking out a lift insurance policy, providing emergency telephone lines to the lift car and any day to day repairs.

12. Reserve Fund

Sometimes referred to as a ‘sinking fund’- your monthly service charge includes a sum of money which is set aside in an interest-bearing account. This fund is used to pay towards the cost of redecorating internal and external communal areas and long term major works e.g. replacing doors and windows in blocks of flats. Before undertaking any cyclical works we will consult with residents and advise of the cost in advance. If the reserve fund is insufficient to cover the cost of the work undertaken we will bill you for the shortfall.

13. Management Fee

We currently charge a 15% management fee for flats and a flat fee of £50 per annum for houses. The fee covers the cost of managing the building and in administering and running your service charge account. The authority for recovering this charge is set out in your lease.

Notes:

The unit cost referred to on the attached sample estimate is the cost per resident, calculated by apportioning the total cost between either the number of flats in the block or the number of properties in the estate.

How is your service charge calculated

With regard to flats we set a service charge ‘budget’ for the block / estate. Based on historic costs, we estimate how much money will be needed to cover costs in the next financial year. This data is then used to calculate your annual / monthly charge, as shown in the example below. After the end of the accounting year we’ll prepare a service charge ‘Year End Account’ to show the actual costs incurred in providing the services.

 

Sample charge:

SERVICE CHARGE ESTIMATE		Actioned by:	Total Cost	Unit Cost 1/16
Estate Costs
Landlords Water Supply	X	Leasehold
Landscaping maintenance	X	Property Services
Maintenance of Electronic Gates		n/a
General Repairs / Routine Maintenance	X	Property Services
Contribution to estate's community amenities		n/a
Caretaker		n/a
			£0.00	£0.00
Reserve Fund and Long Term Maintenance
Major repair of Accessways, Ducts & Drains, Gates
Sub-total Estate Charge (a)			£0.00	£0.00
Block Costs
1 Buildings Insurance (including IPT)	X	Finance	£979.04	£61.19
2 Landlords electricity (including changing of light bulbs)	X	Finance	£240.00	£15.00
3 Landlords water supply		n/a		£0.00
4 Cleaning of communal areas	X	Leasehold	£2,324.90	£186.29
5 Maintenance of Fire protection equipment	X	Property Services	£55.33	£3.46
6 Maintenance of Audio door entry systems	X	Property Services	£99.00	£6.19
7 Maintenance of Communal TV Aerial System		Property Services	£0.00	0
8 General Repairs	X	Property Services	£800.00	£50.00
9 Landscaping Maintenance	X	Leasehold	£1,500.00	£93.75
10 Communal Window cleaning	X	(Included in Communal Clean above)	£0.00	£0.00
11 Lift	X	Property Services	£760.00	£47.50
Sub-total Block Costs (b)			£6,758.27	£463.38
(12) Reserve Fund and Long Term Maintenance
Major repair of audio door entry system	X	Property Services
Internal/external communal area redecoration	X	Property Services
Communal area carpet replacement	X	Property Services
Major structural repair/replacement roof	X	Property Services
Window frames/doors and Cycle racks	X	Property Services
Lift	X	Property Services
Sub-total (C)			£8,753.66	£547.10
Additional Fees for Service Charges relating to parking
Surface Parking Costs
General Repairs	X	Property Services	£240.00	£15.00
Sub-total (d)			£240.00	£15.00
Reserve Cost for Long Term Maintenance
Major Repair of the car park surface	X	Property Services	£400.00	£25.00
Sub-total (e)			£400.00	£25.00
Total Cost (a+b+c+d+e)				£1,050.48
(13) Add Management Fee (15%)	X	Leasehold		£157.57
Annual Service Charge per property		Leasehold		£1,208.05
Monthly Service Charge				£100.67

 

What to do if you get into financial difficulty

We appreciate there are times when your income or circumstances change and paying your rent is difficult, its important that you contact us at an early stage to explain this and we will do all we can to help and advise you. You could risk losing your home if you fail to pay your rent.

Talk to us first – Contact your Leasehold Officer if you are having financial difficulties and explain what the problem is.

Get Advice – Our staff may be able to offer help and advice or refer you to a specialist agency depending on your circumstances.

Do not ignore any letters or documents that we send you.

Deal with debt early – the longer it is left to build up the harder it is to sort out in the long run.

Initial Action

We will write to you if you miss a monthly rent or service charge payment. We will ask you to make immediate payment of the amount owing. You must tell us straight away if you think we are wrong and your payments are up to date.

Further Action

If you fail to respond to our initial letter we will write to you and tell you what we intend to do if you fail to pay the rent and/or service charges due.

If we get no response to this letter we will take further action. Our options include:

• Contacting your mortgage lender and asking them to pay on your behalf. If your mortgage lender agrees to capitalise the arrears they will add an equivalent amount to your existing mortgage and they may also add administration charges.
• An application under the small claims procedure in the County Court. We will ask the court to add our legal and administration costs to any payment order.
• An application to forfeit your lease in the County Court. If our action is successful the Court will forfeit your Lease and you will have to leave your home.

Agencies which can offer you help if you get into financial difficulty are:

Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB)

Phone 0844 477 2020.

Web www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Your local council for Housing Benefit enquiries

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

http://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/

Hart District Council

http://www.hart.gov.uk/

Rushmoor Borough Council

http://www.rushmoor.gov.uk/

Test Valley Borough Council

http://www.testvalley.gov.uk/

East Hampshire District Council

http://www.easthants.gov.uk/

 

What happens if you do not pay your rent/service charge

Your rent and council tax must be paid as a priority - this is a legal requirement:

• If you are claiming Housing Benefit it can often take several weeks for a claim to be determined so during this time your account may go into arrears.
• If you do make a claim for Housing Benefit please advise us of this so we can update our records.
• We have access to Debt and Welfare Benefits Advisors who can advise you on benefits you may be able to claim, debts and managing your income. The Advisor can also deal directly with companies that you owe money to on your behalf.
• If you don't contact us we will assume that you have chosen not to pay your rent and take action against you for non payment.
• We take rent arrears very seriously, we rely heavily on our rent revenue to build new homes and repair and modernise our existing ones.
• If you go into arrears we will send you letters, visit you at home or contact you by phone. You may also be invited to come in and meet with a member of staff to discuss your arrears.
• If after this you are still in arrears, we will serve you with a Notice of Possession proceedings, which gives you four weeks to make an arrangement to pay before we apply to the Court for Possession Proceedings. If payments are still not made or are not in line with the terms of the Court Order we will take action for you to be evicted.
• We do not want to evict residents from their homes, but will do so if rent arrears are not paid. Please ensure that paying your rent is your priority.

• If you move out of your Sentinel home, you must make sure all rent and service charges are paid up to date. If you move out and owe us money our Debt Recovery Officer will contact you by letter, by phone or in person. If you are unable to pay your debt in full, we will help you to agree a payment plan and help you to claim any benefits you may be entitled to. If you don’t repay the money you owe we will consider taking you to court. This could result in a County Court Judgement against you, your belongings may be repossessed or the judge may award an attachment of earnings. You will also have to pay any court costs.

FAQ’s