Flat leaseholders in England and Wales paid an average service charge of £200.42 a month in 2025, Hamptons research shows.
This represents a yearly increase of 4.6%, and amounts to an annual total of £2,405.
The average service charge rose 32.6% over the last five years and 55.6% over the last decade, outstripping inflation (CPI), which rose by 30.9% and 39.8% respectively.
David Fell, lead analyst at Hamptons, said: “Many leaseholders have seen the economic efficiencies of sharing a single roof with their neighbours steadily eroded by rising running costs.
“Traditionally, the cost of running a flat has been below what owners of houses spend over the long term. However, in recent years, large increases in management and compliance costs that aren’t paid by homeowners have upset the equilibrium.
“While the government is looking to cap ground rents, it is service charges which are usually the single largest cost for leaseholders by some margin. But the unplanned nature of building maintenance means that they can’t be capped.
“However, the squeeze on leaseholders’ pockets has been exacerbated by bigger administrative bills, with funds being diverted from direct investment in bricks and mortar.”
London has long had the highest service charges in the country and has also seen the largest increases in recent years.
Here, 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.
Higher charges in the capital typically reflect taller buildings, which offer more amenities and generally cost more to run.
Nationally, the average annual service charge of a one-bed flat is £2,074 (or £172.81 a month), up 3.3% on 2024.
The average two-bed comes with an annual charge of £2,463 (£205.28 a month), up 4.8% on last year.
And the average three-bed carries a charge of £3,146 (or £262.16 a month), passing the £3,000 a year mark for the first time and up 5.7% year-on-year (chart 2).
Fell added: “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.
“So, where there aren’t sufficient sinking funds in place, it’s inevitable that bigger service charge bills will be landing on the doormats and inboxes of leaseholders.”
