How do service charge challenges fare at the Eastern tribunal?
Across 379 First-tier Tribunal service charge decisions heard in the Eastern region (2019–2026), 38.3% of 2,013 challenged items were reduced or disallowed; the median reduction, where made, was 45.5%. (n=2,013, as of 15 August 2026)
Cases are assigned to a region by the First-tier Tribunal venue code in the case reference. These figures are recomputed nightly from the published decisions.
About these figures: Outcomes reflect disputes that reached the First-tier Tribunal, not portfolio-wide quality. Small samples are noisy; every figure links to the underlying decisions.
Outcomes by cost head in Eastern
| Cost head | Items (n) | Reduced or disallowed | Median reduction when reduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reserve fund contributions | 52 | 36.5% | 48.1% |
| Buildings insurance | 195 | 27.7% | 19.7% |
| Management fees | 181 | 55.2% | 26.8% |
| Major works | 252 | 19.8% | 50% |
| Repairs & maintenance | 310 | 34.2% | 52% |
| Utilities | 114 | 29.8% | 29% |
| Lifts | 39 | 28.2% | 62% |
| Other charges | 515 | 42.1% | 57.1% |
| Cleaning | 109 | 35.8% | 33% |
| Gardening & grounds | 57 | 47.4% | 51.9% |
| Legal & professional costs | 100 | 56% | 42.8% |
| Administration charges | 63 | 74.6% | 21.5% |
Methodology
These statistics are computed from the published decisions of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in service charge cases (case types LSC, LIS and LDC). Each decision is parsed into a structured record — the sums challenged, the sums allowed, the outcome per cost head, and the orders made — and the aggregates on this page are recomputed nightly in plain arithmetic from those records. No figure on this page is estimated, modelled or hand-typed; each carries its sample size. Current corpus: 4,244 decisions covering 18,031 individually disputed items, last updated 15 August 2026.
Read this before quoting: Outcomes reflect disputes that reached the First-tier Tribunal, not portfolio-wide quality. Small samples are noisy; every figure links to the underlying decisions.