The costs of maintenance and refurbishment of playgrounds and ball courts on estates are recharged to leaseholders. The bill is divided by the total housing units on the estate, so leaseholders only pay their portion. It is the same calculation that is used for service charges for estate repairs.
However, on most estates where playgrounds are used by the wider community, Camden deducts 20% of the costs before passing on the remainder to the estate. On our estate we were able to argue that the majority of users of the ball court were not estate residents. Eventually, after 5 years of dispute, they only recharged 50% of the capital cost of rebuilding the ball court. We were a special case: the smallest estate in Camden with a ball court (39 units)
Peter Wickenden