As of 2002, councils which owned housing stock were given a financial incentive to introduce service charges as a separate and additional cost to rents. As part of a series looking at the rising costs of social housing in London, this document looks at what the different boroughs are now charging to their tenants and how this has impacted on the overall cost of housing.

We found wide variation in average service charges among the boroughs from the highest, £18.43 per week, in Islington to the lowest, just £2.53, in Harrow. Our members are concerned that service charges, now a significant factor dictating overall housing costs (separate to and alongside rents) are being set with minimal control in place and pretty much hidden away from public scrutiny at the national level.