© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
For any residential leaseholder receiving a demand to pay service charge certain questions often arise. What exactly am I paying for? How can I check I am not being overcharged? Doesn’t my landlord have to explain this in more detail? Leaseholders do have a number of ways in which to obtain answers to such questions, and don’t need to remain in the dark.
Before seeking to enforce or rely on any other rights, leaseholders should first look to their lease. What do the service charge provisions require the landlord to do? Usually the lease will specify exactly what the landlord is entitled to charge leaseholders for. Understanding how and what a landlord may charge is key to interpreting any other you might obtain.
Leaseholders’ rights to seek information from their landlord about service charges are primarily contained in Sections 21 to 23 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (“the Act”). These Sections have been substantially amended by recent legislation, although the amendments are yet to come into force. When they do, the rights described below will be considerably enhanced.
At present, any leaseholder may request a written summary of the costs and expenses relied on by their landlord in calculating service charge for the last twelve month service charge period, and the landlord must provide the summary within a specified time limit.
Leaseholders are also able to request to inspect or take copies of accounts, receipts and other documents supporting the written summary, within six months of it being provided. The landlord must make facilities available for this to be done for a period of two months after a request is made. If copies of documents are required, the landlord (or their agents) may currently charge for these.
The importance of these obligations is underlined by the fact that any landlord not complying may be guilty of a criminal offence under Section 25 of the Act.
Since 1 October 2007 (in England), any demand for service charge must be accompanied by a written summary of leaseholders’ rights and obligations, using prescribed wording. If no such summary is included with a demand, the leaseholder is not liable to pay the service charges or any penalty charges/interest for non-payment until the summary is provided.
Leaseholders also have the right to seek further information about the cost and nature of works and services under certain one-off works contracts and long term agreements before the landlord enters into them, under Section 20 of the Act. Leaseholders are, amongst other things, entitled to inspect or take copies of specifications and estimates, and nominate their own choice of contractors for the landlord to use. Section 20 is designed to increase the amount of information available to leaseholders about the costs they may have to pay to their landlord, and the consequences for a landlord in failing to comply can be severe.
In conclusion therefore, leaseholders do have the right to find out exactly what they are paying service charges for, and to check that a landlord has not included charges that they are not entitled to recover. Understanding and exercising those rights is key before commencing a costly dispute with your landlord.