The DCLG has released the "Social landlords reduction of service charges: mandatory and discretionary directions 2014", in force as of today, 12 August 2014. The upshot of the mandatory directions is that a social landlord which undertakes "repair,...
Don’t ask the surveyor
Windermere Marina Village v Wild [2014] UKUT 163 (LC) is an important decision about the vexed question of apportionment that arises in many residential service charge disputes. Many residential leases for flats divide up the total service charge bill...
Council major works charge cap?
Council leaseholders, those who exercised the right to buy or those who bought from them, have been facing very hefty major works charges, perhaps particularly in London. When repairs have been carried out alongside Decent Homes programmes, or as large scale...
LVT issues – pre-summer holiday round up
This should - I hope - be the last leasehold property/LVT case round up for a few weeks. But it's a good one. I promise. Appeals. Service charges. Consultation. Right to Manage. Who needs "50 Shades" when you've got case-law to enjoy? Appeals Wellcome Trust...
Service charges and reasonably incurred
Garside and another v RFYC Ltd and another [2011] UKUT 367 (LC) By s.19(1)(a), Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, leaseholders are only liable to pay service charges to the extent that they are reasonably incurred. The property in question has something of an...
Three for the LVT mavens
I promised to write the second of these case reports a week ago. Mea culpa. Still, by delaying, I've managed to find two other cases to include. So, without further ado... Ayres and others v Roberts and others In All's Well That Ends Well (Act.1, Scene 1),...
Genuinely exciting
I've been away at a stag weekend for the last few days. I therefore recognise that it is possible that my sense of what is (and is not) exciting and fun may be slightly warped, as I try to re-adjust to polite society. I was, however, genuinely excited last...
Service charge demands and prescribed information
By s.21B, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, a demand for the payment of service charges must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations, setting out the various rights and options open to leaseholders. In England, that provision has been in force...
Service charges and legal costs: a very short point
The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has recently handed down two cases on insurance premiums and service charges. I'm not going to deal in any detail with either of them, as both are entirely on their own facts. However, in one case Akorita v Marina Heights...
The degree of formality
... and, no, we're not talking about meeting the in-laws; rather, we've *finally* got a High Court decision on the requirements of s.20B(2), Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This, in short, requires landlords to either demand service charges within 18 months of...
Ground Rent notification
I’ve just noticed that the Government amended the wording for Ground Rent demands (s.166, 2002 Act) on April 26, 2011 (see here: http://www.info4local.gov.uk/documents/publications/1905195). The change is in para. 3 of the Notes for Leaseholders. It used to...
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
... a case about service charges, balancing payments, LVT procedure and precedent. In Holding and Management (Solitaire) Ltd v Sherwin [2010] UKUT 412 (LC), the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) had to grapple with s.20B, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This...