What You Need To Know About Residential Estate Service Charges

Living in an estate is one of the ways to ensure your security in Nigeria. Beyond the security benefits of living in an estate, there are other factors that attract people towards the estate lifestyle. You should know that they are not free. These facilities attract service charges.

Estates provide facilities such as parks, gym, swimming pool, shopping complexes and other amenities that you can enjoy. However, these luxuries come at a cost that you must be willing to pay to enjoy maximally. Payment for these basic amenities and facilities is called service charges. 

Service charges are compulsory fees that the management requires the residents of the estate to pay towards the maintenance and repairs of the facilities in the estate as well as for the staff that work in the estate. They cover the smooth running of the estate to avoid hiccups. 

Before you make the decision to live in a residential estate, take the following factors into consideration so you don’t have any surprises. Services that are always paid for include but are not restricted to;

Security

Apart from perimeter fences, streetlights, CCTV cameras and well built gates, estates hire the services of security officers to ensure that lives and properties are protected. They play a crucial role in guarding lives, assets and the estate community as a whole. They prevent crime and security breaches.  

Light 

Paying for the use of light in some estates is unavoidable. Some estates provide tenants with 24 hours light everyday which is not in a luxury that regular neighborhoods enjoy in Nigeria. Apart from electricity bills, tenants have to pay for the cost of fueling and maintaining the central generator which is always on when there is no electricity. A common practice in peculiar estates is that residents must purchase their electricity from the estate management. 

Water 

While some residential estates do not separately charge for water, others do. Some estates have a central source of pumping water for the residents. This makes it compulsory for them to pay for the use of water. 

Landscape maintenance 

This covers the general maintenance of the estate landscape. Sweeping the estate, maintaining the garden, parks and swimming pool. 

Salaries 

Salaries of the staff that work for the estate such as security guards, gardeners, cleaning agency, etc. 

Payment of service charges vary from estate to estate. While some request payment monthly, others do quarterly or yearly. Service charges are properly budgeted by the estate management to cover all the work that is to be done. 

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