How do you rate the value for money received for service charges within the property industry?

Occupiers do not believe that they are getting good value for money for the service charge. They would like property suppliers to place greater emphasis on reducing costs, be more transparent and consult with them more	'Costs are always extortionate, far higher than if the tenant got the job done themselves.' 'Generally it is poor value for money. Landlords don't go for the cheapest option or tender on a regular basis.'
Although a few recognise that some of the larger landlords have made a commitment to reduce costs	'The Prudential are operating a trial to reduce service charge by 20% so we will be interested to see how this goes.'
Service charge transparency remains a major source of frustration	'There is concern that service charges are not transparent and for that reason there is always going to be tension.' 'Landlords are not as open as they could be and if challenged on the service charge they seem to go deaf'. 'Transparency needs improving and this year we shall be scrutinizing the service charge very closely.'
More consultation would be appreciated	'There is absolutely no dialogue when it comes to service charges and it is commercially unviable to challenge discrepancies in service charges.' 'We are not given the opportunity to discuss what we want and often just get presented with the bill. For example, auto number plate recognition was introduced in one location. We were not asked if we wanted it, which we didn't, and it has created problems of its own.'
Occupiers believe that the procurement process could be improved	'They need to go to tender on a regular basis for service contracts. The big thing recently has been energy. They need to negotiate a better energy price.'
Some believe that the service charge should not be profit making	'The service charge is an unregulated means of extra profit.' 'Services should be non-profit-making. We are under real pressure to save costs, and would like to achieve a 10% saving in service charge, but it's very difficult to get managing agents to try to get services more cheaply.'
Some believe that the managing agents have little incentive to reduce costs	'There is no incentive for managing agents to reduce costs, it's usually the opposite. It's in their interests to push as high as they can. They are not incentivised to attack costs.'