Service Charge Dispute Solicitors.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.