Residents face £18,000 communal electricity surge linked to EV charging dispute at Langley block

Residents at Hurricane Court in Langley are protesting a sharp rise in mandatory service charges, with communal electricity costs jumping from £27,000 last year to an estimated £45,000 this year, an £18,000 increase. Resident Ali Amjad and others suspect the surge stems from EV charging points installed in the building, which they believe are being used by others while costs are spread across all residents. The increase far exceeds the previous year's £7,000 rise and dwarfs other service charge movements, prompting months of unanswered enquiries to property manager Oakwood Estates.

Why it matters: The dispute highlights a growing friction point in multi-occupancy developments where shared infrastructure costs for EV charging are not transparently allocated or metered, risking resident pushback and complicating future charge point rollouts. For CPOs and housing developers, the case underscores the need for clear sub-metering and cost recovery models to avoid legal and reputational risks in communal settings.