Service Charges
Service charge software for block managers.
Budgets apportioned per schedule, demands carrying the statutory summary of rights, arrears by age, and the year end — for leasehold blocks in England and Wales.
The buildings, people and figures in this picture are a demonstration estate we made up. They are not any agency’s data.
From Budget to Demand
- Budgets by schedule. A property’s budget is split into schedules — the costs shared by the same set of units — so the right units pay for the right thing.
- Shares that add up. Each lease’s share is set on the lease, and the apportionment has to total exactly 100% before a budget will run. Every amount is a whole number of pence, so a block’s demands add up to its budget exactly.
- The prescribed words. A service charge demand carries the summary of tenants’ rights and obligations in the prescribed wording for England or for Wales, and a ground rent demand the prescribed notice.
- The 18-month rule. The clock on costs incurred is tracked, and a notification of costs incurred can be recorded to answer it.
Collecting It, and Closing the Year
- Arrears by age. What was collected, what is outstanding and how old the debt is sit on the same screen as the demands.
- Credit control by stage. Arrears cases move through escalation stages, with letters as a letterhead pack or as Word documents to finish yourself.
- Receipts and the bank. Money in is matched from a receipts inbox, and the bank account is reconciled against the ledger.
- Funds kept apart. Service charge, reserve and other funds are held separately, with the agency’s own fee run kept away from client money.
- Year end. Accruals, prepayments and the pack your accountant asks for — then a signed year’s surplus or deficit settled the way each lease says.
- In the leaseholder’s own portal. Each leaseholder sees their charge for the year, by schedule, and their statement of demands and receipts.
What It Does Not Do
- No card or direct-debit payments: leaseholders pay by bank transfer, quoting their demand’s reference.
- It does not set the budget for you. The figures are yours; the software holds them, splits them and demands them.
The Law
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.21B — the summary of rights and obligations with every service charge demand
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.20B — costs demanded more than 18 months after they were incurred
- Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, s.166 — the notice that ground rent is due
The software records what was done and when. It is not legal advice.
The Next Step
We would rather show you the screen than describe it.