Avon Ground Rents Ltd v (1) Cowley & Others, (2) Metropolitan Housing Trust, (3) Advance, (4) May Hempstead Partnership [2019] EWCA Civ 1827 (no transcript yet on BAILII, we’ve seen a copy on Lawtel) This is an important Court of Appeal decision concerning Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.19(2) and the reasonable sum payable in advance […]
Tag Archives: service charges
Upper Tribunal roundup (The Very Late Summer 2019 edition)
There have been a fair few recent (and perhaps no-so-recent) decisions from the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) on leasehold matters, so it’s time for a bit of a round up. Actually, it was time for a bit of a round up back in August when I started this post and I can only apologise that […]
Service charge claims – paying trial fees and concurrent jurisdiction
Hyslop v 38/41 CHG Residents Company Ltd QBD 05/11/2018 (not on Bailii. Lawtel note of extempore judgment) CHG were the freeholder of a property with various leasehold flats. The FTT had determined that Ms Hyslop and other leaseholders owed CHG certain service charges. H applied to the Upper Tribunal for permission to appeal out of […]
When service charges become indisputable
Marlborough Park Services Ltd v Micha Leitner (2018) UKUT 230 (LC) Tenants/Leaseholders can seek a determination of the payability and reasonableness of service charges under s.27A Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It has been something of a question about how far back a challenge can extend in terms of service charge years. While this Upper […]
The costs of dangerous cladding – leaseholders position
First Tier Tribunal LON/00AH/LSC/2017/0435 – Firstport Property Services Ltd v various leaseholders of Citiscape We previously saw the Salford decision on the costs of a ‘waking watch’ in a tower with ‘Grenfell’ style cladding, but this was the first, keenly awaited, decision on the liability of leaseholders of an affected building (here in Croydon) to […]
Fire Safety – Who Pays?
Since the extent of the issues with the cladding to blocks of flats became clear after Grenfell, and it became clear that private blocks as well as social were affected, we have been waiting for the beginning of the legal fall out over who was to pay for rectifying the problems. For leaseholders in those […]
Incurred and incurred again
Under section 20B(1) Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, a service charge must be demanded of the tenant within 18 months of the relevant cost having been incurred by the landlord. But what happens when there is a head landlord demanding a charge from an intermediate landlord who, in turn, passes the cost on to their […]
Somebody else’s money
Sheffield City Council v Oliver [2017] EWCA Civ 225 We saw this case in the Upper Tribunal, here, and I’ll borrow the brief facts. Ms Oliver was the long leaseholder in a block of flats on the Lansdowne Estate, which was owned by the Council. The Council carried out city wide major works, which included […]
Service charges, contracts, social housing and subsidies
Thomas Homes Ltd v Colin MacGregor [2016] UKUT 495 (LC) An interesting question. To what extent, if at all, can leaseholders’ service charges be set at a level to ‘subsidise’ a shortfall as against actual maintenance costs in service charges recoverable from social tenants in flats provided under a section 106 agreement. The difficulties in […]
Reasonable costs of Improvements
The London Borough of Hounslow v Waaler [2017] EWCA Civ 45 We saw the Upper Tribunal take a new approach to determining whether the costs of improvement works, passed on through the service charge, were reasonably incurred. The UT held that particular consideration should have been given to the views of the leaseholders, whether they […]
