Assure Recovers £46M in Service Charge & Insurance Costs in 2024

Assure Recovers £46M in Service Charge & Insurance Costs in 2024

As we welcome 2025, we take a moment to reflect on our achievements in 2024.  We successfully saved our clients £46 million in service charge and insurance costs, managing service charges across over 18,000 properties with total liabilities of £694 million, spanning the UK, Europe and internationally.

But what challenges did we face and what can we expect from 2025?

Retail & Leisure: £26M Saved

Our Retail and Leisure team delivered exceptional results, recovering £26 million through challenges such as error identification, budget expenditure scrutiny and ensuring service charge caps and exclusions were applied correctly. 

For 2025, we are already noticing significant delays in Budgets being issued, likely driven by the Labour Government’s employer cost increases, with managing agents revising their forecasts.  Our initial analysis indicates average cost increases of 6-7%, once again exceeding inflation.

Offices: £20M Saved

Our Office team had an outstanding year, securing several new instructions and saved an impressive £20 million.  Savings were achieved through rigorous audits, uncovering accounting errors, challenging budgeted expenditures and major works.  In 2024, most clients experienced notable increases in budgeted service charge expenditure, though these were partly offset by reductions in utilities costs.  The budgets reflected the impact of high inflation, which is now easing, and substantial rises in the Living Wage. 

Looking ahead, early 2025 budgets present a mixed picture, with both reductions and increases.  However, a significant number of budgets failed to meet the early December deadline required by the RICS Code for January year starts, highlighting a significant failing for many managing agents.

2025 Assure Index & Webinars

In the coming weeks, we will be issuing the 2025 Assure Index, a detailed analysis of service charge expenditure across the UK Office and Retail Sector.  The findings will be presented in sector specific webinars.

Extending Services & International Growth

We extended our sub-tenant recovery service from retail to office clients, representing an exciting new area of growth.  Additionally, the Office team underwent a reorganisation, creating a dedicated Building Consultancy team focused on reviewing and challenging major works. This new structure sharpens our ability to drive savings across our client groups.

Our international reach grew, with projects in 15 countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Norway, North America, Canada, and Australia, reinforcing our support for clients with worldwide portfolios.

Looking Ahead: Building on Success in 2025 

As we move into 2025, we remain focused on building on our successes from 2024. With continued growth, enhanced services, and a commitment to delivering strong results, we look forward to tackling new challenges and supporting our clients in the year ahead.

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