Home > Residential Leases > Service Charge Disputes
Our Service Charge Dispute Solicitors Promise
Our service charge dispute solicitors can support you with contesting service charges, maintenance fees and major work costs.
Need legal advice now from a service charge dispute solicitor?
Call, email or provide us with a few details of your matter, and we’ll help you arrange an initial consultation. You’ll get:
- Unlimited time to discuss your matter with an experienced leasehold solicitor
- An outline of your legal position in your matter
- A clear fee-quote and time frames to resolve your case
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Commonly asked questions.
Receiving an unexpected service charge bill, or being charged more than you’d anticipate can cause stress and uncertainty. Our solicitors have answered some of the most commonly asked questions on the topic. If your question isn’t listed please get in touch with our team today.
1. Can I dispute a service charge?
Your lease will outline what services and works are to be paid for through your service charge, and how exactly these costs are calculated.
The first step in disputing a service charge is to check your lease and see if the service being charged for is outlined within it.
Service Charges are subject to a number of statutory controls, specifically:
- They are reasonably incurred and for works carried out to a reasonable standard, or
- Where the charge is payable before the relevant costs are incurred, no greater than is reasonably payable
Where works or services fall short of this reasonableness test, the landlord will only be able to recover charges to the extent that they are reasonable.
Major works require the landlord to consult with the leaseholders before commencing. if this consultation has not happened then you may have a case to dispute the service charge for these works.
2. What are major works?
If a service or repair is going to cost each individual leaseholder more than £250.
Under Section 20 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985, landlords are required to consult with leaseholders before conducting any major works.
If there is a ‘reserve fund’ or ‘sinking fund’, built up from leaseholder contributions, this may cover some or all of the major works
Major works can include maintenance and repair, and sometimes improvement, of the exterior and structure of the building and common parts.
Major works will not include maintenance and repair of your own “demised premises” which is typically the interior parts of your property. Your lease will outline what is included in your demised premises and ultimately what you are responsible for.
3. What is a reserve fund or sinking fund?
A reserve fund (or sinking fund) is a fund that leaseholders contribute to every month or year through their service charges.
A reserve fund builds up every year and is intended to pay for any major works that are needed for example replacing a roof.
You won’t usually get any money back that you have paid into a sinking fund/reserve funds. Even if you exit your lease with money still in your reserve fund.
Not all leases allow for this.
4. How do I challenge a service charge on a leasehold property?
If you believe the service charges you are being asked to pay are excessive, e.g. you believe they are more than the services provided should actually cost, you may be able to challenge this.
Initially, you will need to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).
In your appeal to the Tribunal, you will need to explain the charge you are contesting and why you feel this is excessive.
If you’d like to talk to one of our service charge dispute experts for support in contacting the First Tier Tribunal or to get an outline of your case you can book an initial consultation by calling 0203 007 5500.
5. Do you offer legal aid for service charge dispute matters?
We are currently unable to offer legal aid in any capacity as we lack the necessary legal aid certificate. So, for the time being, we can only accept privately funded cases.
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Meet our expert property law team.
Paul Britton
Managing Director
Sophie Campbell-Adams
Director and Solicitor
Mary Ibrahim
Solicitor
Leonardo Bosco
Solicitor
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Aryan Fallahi
Trainee Solicitor
Grace Marchant
Trainee Solicitor
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Paralegal
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