Who pays costs section 20 landlord and tenant act

cowsnhope

Hi. I phoned the Lease Advisory Service last week but after the end of the call was a bit confused. I have a possible dispute over major works and I thought the advisor said that even if this went to court and I won I would still need to pay court and solicitor fees. However I'm now not sure this makes sense as wouldn't my managing agent need to take me to court if I refuse to pay the costs of the work; or do I have to take him to court to not pay my bill. It does seem odd that if I'm in the right I should have to pay to prove this so I just thought I'd double check and see if anyone knew.
Thank you

starving_artist

Each party bears its own costs but I believe the new First Tier Property Chamber has the power to award costs in certain circumstances - basically if either party has acted unreasonably or wasted court time. If your lease states that the freeholder can add his legal costs to the service charge you can apply to prevent him doing this under section 20c.
You might be better off asking questions about this on this forum

cowsnhope

Thank you for this; and for the link- that looks very useful. ��