Why did your service charge go up?

Which document shows why the charge went up?

The demand tells you what to pay and by when. It does not tell you what happened.

The budget is what the manager planned to spend. The accounts are what was actually spent. Almost everything worth knowing sits in the gap between those two, and most people never open either.

How do you find what really changed?

Comparing the accounts to the budget tells you whether the plan held. Comparing this year's accounts to last year's tells you what changed — which is the question you actually asked.

Watch for three things that make a rise invisible. Categories that split, so one line becomes two and neither looks bigger. Categories that merge, so two become one and the total looks like a jump. And a cost that moved between the budget and the actuals rather than genuinely increasing.

Only what survives those three is a real increase.

What rose fastest across the sector?

The Property Institute's TPI Service Charge Index 2026 covers 2,137 professionally managed developments, more than 117,000 homes in England, Wales and Scotland. Its 2024 and 2025 figures are final costs; most of its 2026 figures are budgets.

• Average charges rose 5.8% over the two years to 2026, slightly below cumulative inflation of 6.1% over the same period.
• Building Safety Act compliance costs grew fastest, by 53% from 2024, though they are still 1.5% of the 2026 budgets.
• Reserve funds grew next fastest, by 26% from 2024, and are 16.4% of the 2026 budgets.

These figures cover the index as a whole, not any one area, and its report warns that "aggregated cost averages will not be representative of actual leaseholder bills". A rise well above the average is not by itself evidence that anything is wrong. It is a reason to read the accounts.

Which lines are worth a question?

The management fee, stated separately from what contractors were paid. They are different things and are frequently shown as one.

Insurance. A single line, easily compared, and rarely explained.

Anything major. Large works usually carry their own consultation process, and a large figure that arrived without one is worth asking about.

Sundries, administration, other. Not categories — the place costs go when nobody has decided what they are.

Your apportionment. Your share is fixed by your lease. If the development's total rose and your share rose by more, two separate things happened and only one was mentioned.

For what each of the three documents is for, start with what is in your service charge. If a large one-off demand arrived alongside the rise, that is a different document set.

Can you ask to see the invoices?

In England and Wales, leaseholders have rights set out in statute: to see the invoices and receipts behind the service charge, and to ask an independent body to decide whether a charge was reasonable.

This page does not explain how to use them, because that depends on your lease and is a question for someone who has read it. But it changes what a question is. You are not asking a favour.

Should you stop paying while you query a charge?

What does Synclair do?

Synclair explains each line of your service charge that your documents show, and compares it with published figures where they exist. Add last year's documents and it shows how each line has changed. Anything you report about the development stays on record with its date. When something is worth raising, Synclair can draft a letter for you to check and send in your own name, and you can then record the reply and the outcome.

Only owners pay for Synclair: never managers, insurers or suppliers.

One document is enough to start. It is free for three months, and the three months begin when your first analysis is ready — not when you sign up. There is one free period for each email address.

One document is enough to start: a budget, a charge demand, a statement or year-end accounts.

Sources

• The Property Institute, TPI Service Charge Index 2026, 21 May 2026 — the report · its release

Figures checked 7 October 2026.