Leasehold: £150 Admin Fee Added Without Notice + Poor Management – Worth Challenging?

Gary_Laurus

Hi all,

I own a leasehold flat (over 20 years) and have been paying reduced monthly amounts toward service charge arrears due to financial strain. I’ve kept up £150/month and been in active communication with the managing agent.

Out of nowhere, they’ve now added a £150 “debt administration fee” to my account, dated 4 March 2025. No formal letter or warning, no breakdown, nothing in advance. I only saw it when I requested a balance summary.

This is alongside:

• Little to no visible maintenance

• High “reserve fund” contributions with no transparency

• Repeated delays in communication

• A long record of consistent payment from me

My questions:

1. Can this kind of fee be challenged, or am I stuck with it?

2. Has anyone had success getting these waived or refunded?

3. Is it worth escalating formally (complaint → LEASE → tribunal)?

4. Any other smart moves I should make now before they push harder?

Thanks in advance—I'm juggling this alone and appreciate any advice.

Olinda99

When I own a flat there was definitely a clause that if you were in arrears with service charge there would be an admin fee added whether 150 pounds is a reasonable admin fee I don't know

Is it for one year or is it for multiple years backdated for example have you been in arrears for three years and they are charging you £50 a year fee

eddddy

Gary_Laurus said:

Out of nowhere, they’ve now added a £150 “debt administration fee” to my account, dated 4 March 2025. No formal letter or warning, no breakdown, nothing in advance. I only saw it when I requested a balance summary.

This is a surprisingly complex question.

It depends whether the £150 is...

• 1) An administration fee for dealing with your failure to pay your service charge

• 2) A fee for a service that is mentioned in your lease

• 3) A fee for debt administration services that isn't mentioned in your lease (i.e. no debt administration service is mentioned in your lease.)

It sounds to me like it's option 3. So you could say something like this:

"No fee of of £150 was mentioned when I discussed the reduced payment agreement with you, and so I did not agree to pay a £150 fee, and so you cannot now charge me a £150 fee"


FWIW, assuming it's option 3, you can't take this to a tribunal. (If it was option 1 or option 2, then you could go to tribunal.)