FAQs

The frequently asked questions below are for Bristol City Council housing residents (tenants not leaseholders) who have received a letter from the council regarding proposed changes to service charges in January 2025.

Many landlords charge their tenants for these services, but to date Bristol City Council has not done so. The cost of providing these services is considerable and the council would like to introduce these charges as we wish to continue ensuring these services are provided in the future. We want to make sure that service charges are charged in a fair and equitable way. These service charges are already in place at all our new properties, so we are now introducing them in our existing properties to make it fair for all our tenants.

If you are receiving housing benefit or universal credit, these charges will be eligible meaning your benefits should increase to include the additional cost. If costs are not covered by these and you experience financial hardship, then please get in touch by emailing RentandServiceCharges@Bristol.gov.uk

You can access your current tenancy agreement by visiting the council’s webpage:

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/housing/council-tenants/your-tenancy/tenancy-agreement

You can obtain a paper copy by requesting our contact centre on 0117 922 2000 to advise the Rent and Service Charge Team or send a request directly to RentandServiceCharges@Bristol.gov.uk 

Please submit your comments before 4pm on Thursday 20 February 2025.

The grounds maintenance service charge can cover the upkeep and maintenance of the areas surrounding your building, including private roads, footpaths, parking areas, or communal gardens, and this includes the cost of gardening equipment. There are also responsive works within ground maintenance, which is unplanned works, outside of the regular schedule. This could include tree cutting, re-turfing or any additional planting.

As a social landlord, we can charge what it costs us to arrange and manage the services being provided to you. For example, we might meet with our cleaning contractors monthly; or go to tender for a new grounds’ maintenance contractor; this work is covered by a management fee to reflect our costs to employ people in this role.

We believe the fee set at 15% of your total service charge (excluding heating) is a reasonable amount so that this covers our costs. We have adopted a percentage-based approach rather than a fixed amount to reflect the time and resource that are required to administer the services provided. An example is provided below:

- Weekly Total Service Charge = £3.80.

- The management fee at 15% would be £0.57.

- Hence the total weekly service charge would be £3.80 + £0.57 = £4.37.

Any further comments can be sent directly to the Rent and Service Charge Team RentandServiceCharges@Bristol.gov.uk.

We aim to review all feedback from residents and any final decision will only be made after the deadline date for responses has passed. 

If a decision is made to recharge for the costs of grounds maintenance and/or management fee, then a final notice will be sent at least 1 month before the change takes place.