Service charges for flats topped £200 per month for the first time last year, according to the latest data released by Hamptons.
Flat leaseholders in England and Wales paid an average service charge of £2,405 or £200 a month in 2025, up 4.6% from the previous year.
And the average service charge has risen 32.6% over the last five years and 55.6% over the last decade, outstripping inflation.
Lenders unwilling
More than a third of flats (37%) had a service charge exceeding 1% of their value in 2025, up from 28% a decade ago. Some mortgage lenders become unwilling to lend above this figure, Hamptons says.
Flats with a service charge at or below 1% of their value were 50% more likely to sell last year than those with charges of 2% or more.
Largest increases
London has the highest service charges in the country and has also seen the largest increases in recent years. The average charge stands at £2,801 (£233.45 a month), up 6.4% year-on-year, 41.2% over the last five years and 64.5% over the last decade.
Meanwhile, 30% of flats in the North East still have a service charge of under £100 a month, followed by 28% in both the East Midlands and the South West.
Big-ticket items such as roofs, lifts, and windows are approaching the end of their life.”
David Fell, Lead Analyst at Hamptons, says: “Many leaseholders have seen the economic efficiencies of sharing a single roof with their neighbours steadily eroded by rising running costs.”
And he warns: “The city centre flat boom, which took off in the mid-1990s, means many bigger blocks of flats are now turning 30. This can mean that big-ticket items such as roofs, lifts, and windows are approaching the end of their life.”
The post Flat service charges top £200pm for first time appeared first on The Negotiator.
