When you buy a flat in a building owned by the Council, you buy a leasehold interest in the property. This means that you are legally responsible to pay a proportion of the running and management costs for your block. These costs are called service charges.

Service Charges and Ground Rent are due on the 1st April, although we do offer a payment plan over 10 months, with the Ground Rent being collected on the first payment. Service Charge invoices are sent out in the middle of April and will include any credit / debit carried out from the previous year.

Actuals are sent out by October each year and these show you how your Service Charge invoices are calculated for the upcoming year.

Click here to find out more about service charges for leaseholders.  You can find out about your legal rights and obligations here.

We maintain a proactive approach to collecting any arrears at Colchester Borough Homes. This will include writing to you, making contact via the telephone, making contact with your mortgage lender and finally requesting legal action is taken including requesting a County Court Judgement and possibly requesting forfeiture of your property. Taking arrears action is a last resort and we would prefer to work with you, if you are struggling financially to set up an affordable payment plan. If you do find you are struggling, please do contact us as soon as possible to see how we might be able to help you.