Loughborough reports - Introduction
In 2003 Property Solutions sponsored Loughborough University to undertake a study of service charges paid by tenants in multi-tenanted office buildings in the UK. This was part of Property Solutions’ ongoing campaign to regulate and improve the management of service charges. The study which was undertaken by the University’s Business School was led by Dr John Calvert. Its objective was to seek reasons for reported cost increases and comment on opportunities for efficiency improvements and cost savings.

Original report
The original report looked at five years worth of data between 1998 to 2002 from 161 buildings. The main findings indicated that service charges were variable and that tenants paid between an average of £5.06 per sq. ft to £6.46 per sq. ft. There was no explanation for this variability and the service charge industry is seemingly unregulated.
To view the original report, click here:

Updated Loughborough Service Charge Study
The results of the updated Loughborough service charge study were published in November 2005 at the IPD/IPF Property Conference in Brighton. The study update, examined new data for the 161 buildings in the original research, representing 15.5 million square feet of office space as well as data from additional office space.

John Calvert’s research revealed that nine months after the full research was published very little had changed and that the industry which was estimated to be worth in excess of £4.41 billion had failed to publicly respond to calls for better regulation.
To view the updated study, click here:

RICS Code of Practice
Since these findings into the service charge industry the RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) has responded by releasing the Code of Practice which comes into effect in April 2007. While Property Solutions is pleased that the RICS has addressed some of the issues, the Code provides no measurable view of where the industry is today and Property Solutions questions the level of likely compliance
with the Code.
To view Property Solution’s response to the
RICS Code of Practice, click here:

Where next?
Property Solutions has since sponsored John Calvert to undertake research into the level of compliance with the Code and he will be discussing his report ‘Service Charge Study Update’ in the seminar on 23 January in London.
Click here to download the report