Stories

Thu, 22 Oct 2026

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 'An £8k service charge left me unable to pay bills'

Housing association Curo defends large increases to leaseholder bills.

* Callum Maddern's housing association bill increased sixfold to £8,000/year due to maintenance work; he claims Curo failed to prepare him for the costs.
* A Bath resident saw his service charge rise from £1,300 to over £8,000 after Curo informed him that £5,000 had been allocated for sinking fund contributions in 2023.
* Maddern and another leaseholder, Ken Pearson, have criticized Curo's handling of their rising bills, with Pearson saying he was not prepared for the costs and should have been allowed to pay over a longer period.
* The director of housing at Curo acknowledged that communication could be improved but denied that they could have managed the costs better; he described it as a "perfect storm" caused by increasing legislation and contract costs.
* A new law is being proposed to ban leasehold for most new flats and create a right for leaseholders to request improvements, which could help address concerns about rising service charges.