Fairbairn v Etal Court Maintenance Ltd

Legal costs incurred by a landlord in connection with litigation brought against it for the enforcement of the landlord’s repairing covenants, which the landlord was unsuccessful in, could not be recovered as service charges. Neither could the landlord recover costs paid to a tenant in settlement of the claim. The expenditure could not be described as having been incurred in “the proper management administration and maintenance” of the property, but in fact was incurred as a result of the landlord’s own breach of covenant.