Landlord defends above-inflation service charge rises due to ‘inaccurate information’

Phoebe’s Place was built in 2021 on the site of a former garden centre in Catford and contains 27 one, two and three-bedroom shared ownership flats.

Chyrel Brown, interim executive director of customer experience at Moat, said the housing association has “unfortunately found it necessary to raise rents across all our homes, completely aligned to inflation, due to increasing costs. Service charge costs have also risen due to inflation and the increased expenses associated with providing these services”.

However, she added, a “notable increase in the service charges at Phoebe’s Place” has come from the grounds maintenance costs.

Ms Brown said: “We were given inaccurate information about the size of the communal area to be maintained when we took over management of the development.

“Correcting this issue, along with the procurement of a new service contract to include expanded and improved grounds maintenance services, led to higher costs. We acknowledge our responsibility for this issue and are looking to address it.

“We are listening to our customers concerns and are committed to their well-being during these tough times.

“We will be meeting with customers at Phoebe’s Place to talk about the increased costs and what support we can provide.”

Asked to provide more detail about the incorrect information, Moat told Inside Housing there was “a substantial increase in the size of the hard surfaces, shrubs, hedges and grass that needed to be maintained, going from 340 sqm to 2,310 sqm”.

When asked who it took over the development from, Moat said "Phoebe’s Place was a new development. Our development team, employers’ agent, and contractor, worked together to gather measurements for the grounds. Despite collaborative efforts, mistakes were made, which we acknowledge our responsibility for and are looking to address.

"This experience has taught us valuable lessons, prompting us to improve our processes to avoid similar errors in the future and better service our customers."

Rea Mole, a resident of Phoebe’s Place, told Inside Housing: “Moat’s response, at this stage, is not acceptable. But I am in conversation with them, as are other residents here. I hope that, together, we can reach a resolution, and that Moat will do the right thing and take seriously their primary responsibility of ensuring that our homes remain affordable.

“We should not be seeing rent or service charge increases that exceed inflation, especially so in a cost of living crisis, and as residents of an affordable housing scheme, which needs to remain so.

“We should certainly not be absorbing service charge increases that relate to an error by another party, or be expected to pay for high spec services without consent. I hope that Moat can turn this around.”

Last month, chief executive Mary Gibbons stepped down from the role at Moat with immediate effect after less than two years in post.

The landlord was forced to apologise in November after it incorrectly said it would take enforcement action against a resident who complained about anti-social behaviour (ASB). Moat told Inside Housing that it was “truly sorry” for the mistake, which the resident said had caused her to suffer from “flashbacks and nightmares”.

The shared ownership resident, who lives in Crawley, complained to the housing association in June 2022 about ASB from her neighbours, who she claimed have harassed her for five years. Following the resident’s complaint, Moat launched a six-month ASB investigation.