As a resident of Elephant Park, London, I am personally affected by the escalating service charges. My current service charge has reached an unsustainable £6k per annum. This is an Increase of over 43% in just over 3 years. This is not only unaffordable for me but also for many other residents who are struggling to keep up with these costs. The shared ownership ethos that we believed in - affordable homes - seems to be fading away with each increase.

Service charges are meant to cover the cost of maintaining common areas and providing essential services. However, when these charges become exorbitant, they begin to undermine the very purpose of shared ownership schemes which aim at making housing affordable.

According to a report by Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), around 1.3 million people in England are living in leasehold properties subject to service charges (source: CAB). The same report indicated that complaints about such fees have increased by over 50% over five years.

We believe it's time for a change. We call on our local government representatives in Elephant and Castle, London, UK, as well as national policymakers, to implement a cap on how much service charge can be increased annually. This will ensure that residents like us can continue living here without being burdened by unmanageable costs.

(calculation from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/56e97c56e5274a14d7000000/Shared_ownership_6.1.3_-_Shared_Ownership_affordability_guidance_-_Nov_15.pdf
 
Refactoring this equation for salary, and using the 45% affordability rule:
Salary = (Service Charge + Rent) / 45%
 
Taking into account the latest charges per month from Apr 2024 for 30% share of my flat:
Service charge: £496
Rent: £655
 
This would give us the minimum required salary as:
(496 + 655) / 0.45 = 1151 / 0.45 = £2,558 per month; take home around £30,000 per year.
 
This roughly equates to a salary of £40,000 per year before tax. When we look into the UK statistics for this, we find that this would mean 80% of 22-29 year olds would not be able to afford this. Furthermore, taking the average age of house purchase in the UK as 34 (https://www.money.co.uk/mortgages/first-time-buyer-mortgages/statistics we find that 60% of 30-39 year olds would still not be able to pass the affordability check. (https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/agegroupashetable6 - "PROV - Age Group Table 6.7a   Annual pay - Gross 2023.xls")
Please sign this petition if you believe in fair and affordable housing for all residents of Elephant and Castle!