Leasehold service charges

Leasehold service charges are generally levied to cover the costs of maintaining the shared parts of a building (particularly in the case of blocks of flats) or upkeep of the grounds. Expenses of the freeholder which may require service charge payments include:

• repairs to the outside of a building which contains flats, including the roof, external walls and structural issues
• drainage and water mains connections
• cleaning of common parts of a shared building
• gardening of shared grounds
• maintenance of a lift
• buildings insurance
• management charges or administration fees

The lease should specify the various regular maintenance charges and the types of services which can be subject to additional charges (eg unexpected building repairs due to storm damage etc).

Sinking funds (also known as reserve funds) refers to the pot of money reserved for emergency or unexpected maintenance issues (eg in the eventuality that the roof needs to suddenly be repaired). Leaseholders are obliged to make regular contributions to any relevant sinking fund, under the terms of their lease.

Service charges are normally paid annually, although this can be more frequent, depending on what is contained in the lease. Prior to payment, the freeholder needs to send out a formal request for payment of service charges, which should normally include their name and address. The formal request should also contain a summary of the rights and obligations of the leaseholder. A demand for the payment of a service charge must be accompanied by a summary of the rights and obligations of tenants of dwellings in relation to service charges. For more information on the summary of rights and obligations, see the Leasehold Advisory Service website.

Additionally, leaseholders have the legal right to ask for a summary which shows how any service charges are calculated and how they are spent. They can also demand any paperwork or other evidence which supports this summary (eg receipts from tradespeople etc).

The freeholder must consult you if they intend to:

• use a contractor to provide services for more than a year and that will cost you more than £100 per year

• carry out works that will cost you more than £250 per year    

You have the right to comment on proposals and to suggest alternative contractors.

Leaseholders who wish to challenge service charges may be able to apply to the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber - Residential Property) if it is a variable charge (not a fixed charge) and they:

• consider a charge to be unreasonable
• think that the standard of work which relates to a charge is unsatisfactory (eg if a roof has not been properly repaired)
• believe they should not be paying the service charge

For further information, read Challenging service charges.

In Scotland, services charges are known as ‘factoring charges’. A property factor manages common land in and around residential properties.

Property factors operating in Scotland are required to:

• join the register of property factors before they can operate

• follow a code of conduct once they've registered

Homeowners in Scotland can first complain in writing to the property factor and then can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber where they believe there has been a breach of the code of conduct or the property factor has failed to carry out their duties.