What is Service Charge?
 
Service charge is an annual fee charged to the owner of each property at Al Raha Gardens Property LLC. The fee is used to pay for all expenses that relate to common areas within the Al Raha Gardens community and other expenses that relate to the administration of the service charge. The charge does not relate to anything inside the boundaries of each individual’s property and applies to the following services to the common areas:

•	Security services - this includes where appropriate manned security, mobile patrols and electronic security, including CCTV

•	Grounds and Landscaping maintenance and irrigation

•	Roads and street lighting, operation and maintenance

•	Waste management

•	Maintenance compound and offices

•	Staff costs – to both administer the services and the Rules and Regulations

•	A help desk and call centre

•	Sinking fund for capital future expenditure that may be required in the future

How is Service Charge Calculated?
 
In accordance with the internationally recognised Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), service charge is calculated based on the Net Internal Area (NIA) of your property. The bigger the NIA, the greater the amount of service charge payable. At the beginning of each year, a budget is created in order to predict the required expenditure for the upcoming year. The total charged represents the individual property’s share of the budget, based on the NIA.

How will we pay the service charge?
 
ALDAR Properties PJSC will prepare a budget each year which will be issued to all owners before the commencement of the service charge year. Customers will be required to pay the service charge applicable to their villa or apartment before the beginning of the service charge year so that ALDAR Properties PJSC has sufficient funds through the year to meet their obligations.

At the end of each year a reconciliation will be performed between the actual expenditure and budgeted amount. This is then Audited by an external auditor who will produce an annual certificate of expenses. If the actual expenditure is lower than the budgeted amount, a refund will be issued and if the actual expenditure is higher than the budgeted amount, an additional invoice will be raised for each villa. A full breakdown of all costs together with the reconciliation will be sent to each owner.