Service Charges issued by different Ltd

Liv_Kent

eddddy said:

Is your property leasehold or freehold?

(You talk about a freeholder, but it's not clear if it's the freeholder of your house/block, or the freeholder of some communal land on an estate of freehold houses.)


If you think you are being overcharged, there are steps you can take - but they're different for leaseholders and freeholders. 

Leasehold flat. 

eddddy

Liv_Kent said:

eddddy said:

Is your property leasehold or freehold?

(You talk about a freeholder, but it's not clear if it's the freeholder of your house/block, or the freeholder of some communal land on an estate of freehold houses.)


If you think you are being overcharged, there are steps you can take - but they're different for leaseholders and freeholders. 

Leasehold flat. 

OK...

So leasehold legislation says service charges must be 'reasonable'.

If you don't think they're reasonable (for example, you're being charged for work which wasn't done), you can challenge them at a tribunal. 

In your position, I would write something like this to the freeholder:

I do not believe the service charge is reasonable because of a, b, c (e.g. the work wasn't done etc)
I believe that the service charge should be reduced to £x, because ...
If you are not prepared to reduce the service charge to £x, I will only pay under protest, and I will challenge the service charge at a tribunal


If the freeholder still refuses to reduce the service charge, it's often best to pay it in full and then challenge it (just in case you lose at tribunal).

If you don't pay in full, the freeholder might add Admin Fees, Solicitor's fees and Debt Collector fees - which might add up to hundreds of pounds. If you lose at tribunal, you'll have to pay all those fees.

Or your freeholder might contact your mortgage lender about the unpaid charges - and your mortgage lender is likely to just pay them, and add them to your mortgage.

Liv_Kent

eddddy said:

OK...

So leasehold legislation says service charges must be 'reasonable'.

If you don't think they're reasonable (for example, you're being charged for work which wasn't done), you can challenge them at a tribunal. 

In your position, I would write something like this to the freeholder:

I do not believe the service charge is reasonable because of a, b, c (e.g. the work wasn't done etc)
I believe that the service charge should be reduced to £x, because ...
If you are not prepared to reduce the service charge to £x, I will only pay under protest, and I will challenge the service charge at a tribunal


If the freeholder still refuses to reduce the service charge, it's often best to pay it in full and then challenge it (just in case you lose at tribunal).

If you don't pay in full, the freeholder might add Admin Fees, Solicitor's fees and Debt Collector fees - which might add up to hundreds of pounds. If you lose at tribunal, you'll have to pay all those fees.

Or your freeholder might contact your mortgage lender about the unpaid charges - and your mortgage lender is likely to just pay them, and add them to your mortgage.

Thank you very much, that’s super helpful!