duration

Location
Virtual

Practical advice and guidance from sector experts and practitioners on everything you need to know about service charges – from maximising income and improving transparency to communicating effectively with residents and managing expectations. Plus, Leasehold Network members will receive the service charges toolkit.

  • Read more

    There has been much recent attention on future rent policy and annual rent increases but now is a good time to take a closer look at your organisation’s approach to service charges and ask yourself:

    Does it stand up to scrutiny? Are you maximising your income from service charges for both tenants and leaseholders? Are your charges affordable, fair and transparent? How are you communicating these charges? And are your systems fully compliant?

    Service charges are a vital part of your organisations’ income stream – yet they are often overlooked and treated as the poor relation to rent despite them often featuring in the media.

    Many organisations are still grappling with the fundamentals, including:

    • How to calculate charges accurately
    • Developing robust policies and processes
    • Maintaining reliable records
    • Understanding key terminology.

    There are also strategic decisions to make, such as the pros and cons of:

    • Variable versus fixed service charges
    • Pooled versus De-pooled costs
    • Aggregated or disaggregated charges.

    Getting service charges right is rarely straightforward. It often involves multiple teams – housing management, repairs, estate services and finance – all working together. Organisations must balance the need to maximise income with the responsibility to keep charges affordable for tenants and leaseholders, while ensuring full compliance with legislation.

    And with rising costs and ongoing financial pressures across the sector, the challenge has never been greater.

    This practical event will help delegates understand the detail behind service charges, explore different approaches to charging, and identify the key processes needed to support sound decision-making.

    Our expert speakers will also explain the roles played by different teams and demystify some of the terminology.

    Delegates will leave with a clearer understanding of current best practice in service charging – and Leasehold Network members will receive a copy of HQN’s new Service Charges Toolkit.

    If you are not a member and would like access to the toolkit, please contact us at [email protected].

  • Our speakers

    Jackie Dickins, Associate, HQN
    Jackie Dickins has been an HQN associate since 2001 and is our lead consultant for the Leasehold Network. Prior to this she held positions at a London borough and two large housing associations based in the capital, where she was responsible for leasehold management and promoting work in the field of low-cost homeownership initiatives. Jackie undertakes many of HQN’s service reviews and service improvement work on leaseholder and homeownership. She’s also worked in interim positions with a number of local authorities, arm’s length management organisations and housing associations as Head of Homeownership/Homeownership Manager.

    Emma Towler, Head of Ownership and Service Charges, Aster Group
    Emma Towler is a leasehold and service charge professional who has worked in social housing for more than 25 years. She is a specialist in home ownership, service charges and welfare reform and income management who has worked extensively with registered providers, ALMO’s and local authorities undertaking KLOE inspections and critical friend reviews of leasehold management and service charges, providing constructive SMART action plans to improve income recovery and improve processes and customer experiences.

    Emma has a proven track record of enabling housing providers to improve income recovery of service charges and improve customer satisfaction amongst homeowners. Emma has been an HQN associate for more than 15 years.

    Mark Henderson, HQN Associate
    Mark has a long and distinguished career in social housing with over 40 years’ housing-related experience. He works as an associate with HQN, undertaking consultancy and research in a variety of areas for members across the UK.

    He was previously Director of Housing at Wolverhampton Homes, where he was influential in taking the ALMO to a three-star excellent rating.

    His major interests are income collection and arrears recovery. He’s passionate about tenant involvement and engagement, tenant management organisations, anti-social behaviour, and all general housing management issues.

    Ben Whiteside, Head of Homeownership and Leasehold Services, Hounslow Council
    Ben Whiteside has worked in housing since 1991, delivering housing services in several London boroughs before returning to his first love – service charges. Since 2009 Ben has led leasehold services in East and South West London, in local authorities, ALMOs and a housing association, in challenging social and political environments, specialising in income maximisation and cost recovery, and leading the team which won the UK Housing Award in 2018 for an outstanding approach to income recovery. Ben now leads on service charges for Hounslow Council, managing cost recovery across services and tenures, protecting income streams in a challenging environment while treating tenants and leaseholders fairly.

    Mel Garnett, Resident Scrutiny Panel Member, G15 Residents’ Group
    Mel has been a resident with the Guinness Partnership for over 30 years, during which time she has seen her community evolve significantly. She experienced first-hand the transformation of her estate through a major redevelopment, following several years of resident consultation that helped shape the final outcome.She values the culture and diversity of her local area, which she believes create a vibrant and welcoming community. Her motivation to join the G15 Residents’ Group was driven by listening to the lived experiences of others and a strong desire to promote understanding and harmony across communities.

    Mel is deeply committed to her neighbourhood and uses her role within the G15 Residents’ Group to champion inclusivity. She actively engages with residents from different housing associations and works with housing organisations to ensure a wide range of voices are heard. She sees the group as an important platform to raise key issues and influence positive, meaningful change for both Guinness residents and the wider social housing sector.

    More recently, Mel has been an active member of the Guinness Partnership’s scrutiny panel and continues to contribute to wider policy discussions through her involvement in the G15 Residents’ Group, helping to shape conversations at both a local and national level.
  • Programme

    9:30am Welcome and introductions

    Jackie Dickins, HQN Associate

    9:45am Overview: working with internal teams to improve the service charges process

    Emma Towler, Head of Ownership and Service Charges, Aster Group

    10:15am Practitioner perspective – getting service charges right for tenants and leaseholders

    Ben Whiteside, Head of Leasehold Services and Home Ownership Team, London Borough of Hounslow
    • HQN service charge review and what it uncovered
    • The key issues it highlighted
    • Practical steps they’re now taking to move from their starting point to a fairer, more accurate and more transparent approach.

    10:45am Break

    11:00am Financial perspective on service charges

    Mark Henderson, HQN Associate
    • Why service charges matter as an income stream for landlords
    • The financial risks of under-recovery, inaccurate charging, and weak oversight
    • How finance teams can support fair, transparent, and well-managed service charges
    • Engaging with tenants and leaseholders
    • Developing a communications strategy.

    11:30am Communicating with residents around service charges

    Mel Garnett, Resident Scrutiny Panel Member, G15 Residents’ Group

    12:00pm Q&A around service charges

    Jackie Dickins, HQN Associate

    12:30pm Final comments and wrap up

    12:45pm Close

  • Cancellations and substitutions

    If you are unable to attend an event or public training course, please let us know in writing (email is fine) at least 48 hours before. Please email [email protected] Otherwise, a cancellation fee of £60 plus VAT will be chargeable. If you are using a package place to attend and do not inform us within the agreed time frame, then a place will be taken to cover your non-attendance. Cancellations must be made in writing, and will be acknowledged by HQN Limited.

  • Price and booking

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    If you experience any issues when submitting your booking, please email [email protected] with the name and date of the session along with the delegate name(s), email address(es) and job title(s) and we'll process the booking for you.

Dates



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