Family Housing Association (Birkenhead & Wirral) Ltd, Marcus House, Marcus Street, Birkenhead, Telephone: 0151 647 5000

 

 

 

Rents and Service Charges

 

RENT

Your rent is the only form of income that the Association receives.  We use your rent to pay for improvements, carry out repairs and buy additional homes for those in housing need.  It is very important that we collect all the rent due from our tenants as without it we would be unable to maintain your homes.

 

Methods of Payment

Your rent is due every Monday, one week in advance.  We offer you a number of ways to pay.  You can pay by Direct Debit and Standing Order or with a Rent Payment Card.  The Rent Payment Card service is provided by Allpay and allows you to pay your rent at the Post Office, at local shops with a PayPoint as well as over the Telephone and the Internet.  You can also pay using your mobile by downloading an application that Allpay provide.  To find out more about Allpay services contact the office or visit www.allpay.net

Rent Statements

Every three months, you will receive a rent statement showing how much you have paid and how much we have actually received.  If you have any questions about your statement, or you would like one sent to you at any other time of year, please let us know.

You should also keep your own record of payments made to us on your rent account.  Remember it is your responsibility as a tenant to make sure that your rent is paid on time.

 

How Rents are Set

Your rent is set using a Government formula that generates a Target Rent for each property.  The formula includes the number of bedrooms, the property value and average local earnings.  The Government decides how much rents can be increased by each year.  Your rent is increased each year during the first week in April.

 

SERVICE CHARGES

Some of our properties have communal facilities or additional services provided beyond routine repairs and maintenance.  These are normally relate to flats.  Services are typically in relation to maintaining communal facilities, so could include lighting of communal halls and stairs, exterior lighting, external window cleaning, cleaning of communal halls and stairs, maintenance of communal gardens and occasionally maintenance of CCTV systems.

 

Calculating Service Charges

Tenant’s receiving services are responsible for meeting the full cost of providing these services.  Each year, we review the cost of providing the services in the year before, and calculate the service charge for the year ahead.  This is then applied from April when the rent is reviewed.  Family Housing Association does not make a profit from providing services, but does make a small 10% Management Charge to cover our costs in providing, monitoring and paying for the services provided.

 

Changing Services

In order to add new services, or change the provision of existing services, the majority of tenants must be in favour of the change.  Where it becomes clear that there is support for changing the services provided, we will carry out a formal consultation.

 

Opting out of Services

Some tenants may feel that a service does not benefit them and may wish to opt out of receiving the service and the related charge.  It is not possible to opt out of the services provided as part of your tenancy.  Your are contractually obliged to pay the Service Charge.

 

Quality of Services

Tenants can expect services to be provided to a good standard.  Where they are unhappy with the standard of services provided as part of their service charge they should contact the office and make a complaint.