LEASE holders living on a Snaresbrook estate have hit out at “outrageous” increases in service charge from their housing management company.

Residents at the Hermitage Estate spoke to the Guardian about their frustration at the ever-increasing amounts of annual charges they face for general maintenance work around their homes.

Steve Harvey, 56, said: “Originally our service charge included building insurance but now we have to pay that separately.

“It's just gone completely crazy in recent years and we don't see any improvements that warrant these kind of hikes.

“The worst part is that I just don't understand what I'm being charged for.”

Mary Kavanagh, 30, said: “If something happens on your block of flats you have to pay for it so it's all different amounts for different people.

“My last bill had gone up £150 and when I asked for a breakdown I found they'd charged me four times for the same job because I kept asking them to fix the lights.

“It was rectified but I dread to think how many people have been charged for things like that.

“Redbridge just pass the price of everything onto us.”

Ron Wood, 50, is withholding his service charge as he says it has gone up from around £100 in 2003 to almost £1,000 this year.

He said: “Redbridge Homes never put anything out to tender because they know the lease holders will pay for it.

“They're also trying to put the management charge up from ten per cent to 20 per cent because they say they're not getting enough money – it's outrageous.”

A spokeswoman for Redbridge Council said: "The Council is legally required to recover the costs of providing services to leaseholders.

"Redbridge Homes is a managing agent appointed by the London Borough of Redbridge to manage its stock and collect rents and service charges on its behalf.

"Redbridge Homes also calculates service charges on behalf of LBR ensuring we charge individual Leaseholders according to their lease.

"The leases require Leaseholders to pay their share of the cost of managing the block or estate.

"The level of contribution is detailed in each lease, which should have been explained by their solicitor when they purchased the property."