Flat-Living.co.uk Service Charges
All you need to know
Service charges made easier
Moving into and living in an apartment block and enjoying Most modern leases allow for
the facilities and communal areas is great. Unknown to recovery of all legal costs to be paid
many residents is that there is a lot of thankless work being for by the late paying leaseholder, as
undertaken on their behalf by some of their fellow residents who such, a firm such as SLC Solicitors
sit on the board of the Residents’ Management Company (RMC). will not ask for any payment of fees
from the RMC as they recover costs
There can be many challenges ahead for those RMC directors when from the defaulting leaseholder. The
the decision has been made to manage their own apartment block benefit being that whatever cash
instead of appointing a managing agent. flow the RMC has, it can retain those
funds for general maintenance and
One area that can be the most difficult and awkward for RMC expenses rather than pay them away
directors is having to collect and chase for payment of service in legal costs.
charges and ground rents. It is a very sensitive area and demanding
money from fellow residents can prove to be thankless. The process of transfer to SLC is
very easy and the recovery of monies due can be commenced within
When a leaseholder does not pay a service charge demand on time, 24 hours of receipt of the relevant details of the debt.
a RMC director then has the task of politely chasing for payment and
having no alternative but to warn of potential legal action. Not only do we recover all our legal costs, which means the
RMC doesn’t get charged, but we also recover late payment
Once that final stage is reached and payment has not been made interest on the debt and any reasonable administration charges
by the leaseholder it is better then for the RMC directors to keep that the RMC might levy on the leaseholder for late payment.
themselves at arms length and instruct a solicitor to get involved
as in most cases the late paying leaseholder is probably not To find out more about how easy it is to instruct us and how we can
communicating with the RMC. help you turn your arrears into payments quickly please call us on
0845 1 700 700 and ask to speak with Karen Bolland or Neil
Choosing which law firm to use is the next process the directors Shearing.
will have to go through. Whilst forfeiture proceedings are the
ultimate remedy for non payment, the legal process is relatively We won’t start the clock running when you call!
straightforward once payment is not made by the leaseholder, but
it is important to use a firm of solicitors that has experience in and Neil Shearing, SLC Solicitors
specialist knowledge of dealing with these issues – a law firm that www.servicechargearrears.com
understands the urgency of making sure arrears are recovered
quickly, to enable the apartment block to be maintained and
managed as everyone would like.
Challenging service charges
It always makes sense to check your service charge demands period or within one month of
but, before you challenge them, you need to make sure you have the request - whichever is later.
some understanding of what the law says. You can then send a written
request to the landlord asking to
According to LEASE the government’s free legal advice service inspect the accounts, receipts
for leaseholders and landlords, the first thing to do is read and and other documents supporting
understand your lease. Whether or not you are liable to pay usually the summary within 6 months of
depends on your lease. However, if the demand is unreasonable receiving it.
then the law is behind you. Remember, though, that what you think
is unreasonable and what the law sees as unreasonable may not be I’ve checked and I still
the same The LEASE team of qualified solicitors will be happy, to believe the charges are
advise you. unreasonable - what next?
Service charges must be
Here they answer some of the most frequently asked questions: reasonable. This means they must
be ‘reasonably incurred’ and only
Where do I start? A service charge demand must show the payable if those services or works
landlord’s name and address and be accompanied by a summary are of a reasonable standard.
of your rights and obligations. The demand is not payable until both
requirements have been complied with. First write to the landlord or their
managing agent raising your concerns and state why you believe
Do I really have to pay for all these items? You cannot that the charges are unreasonable. If this is unsuccessful, consider
be charged for items not referred to in the lease. In particular, if using a mediation service such as the one provided by LEASE.
improvements are being proposed to the building, make sure the If, however, the landlord is uncooperative then you can make an
lease allows the landlord to carry out and charge for such works. An application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) asking them to
obligation on the landlord to maintain and repair the main structure determine whether the charge is payable.
and common parts does not necessarily mean, say, they can build a
bin store where one did not previously exist. I have paid my service charge demand - can I still
challenge it? Yes, so long as you have not specifically admitted or
I am being charged for a management fee – agreed that the charges are payable.
is this allowed? Only if the lease allows!
Do I have a right to ask for more information? You are Further information and a downloadable fact
entitled to request from your landlord a written summary of costs sheet are available at www.lease-advice.org or
incurred during the previous accounting year (or, if there is not call the LEASE team on 020 7374 5370.
one, the 12 months up to the date of your request). They must
send it to you within six months of the end of the last accounting
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