How do service charge challenges fare at the London tribunal?
Across 2,382 First-tier Tribunal service charge decisions heard in the London region (2019–2026), 39.3% of 10,151 challenged items were reduced or disallowed; the median reduction, where made, was 49.7%. (n=10,151, 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 London
| Cost head | Items (n) | Reduced or disallowed | Median reduction when reduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reserve fund contributions | 347 | 41.2% | 50% |
| Buildings insurance | 932 | 43.1% | 40.6% |
| Management fees | 877 | 58.3% | 35.7% |
| Major works | 1,633 | 15.7% | 42.1% |
| Repairs & maintenance | 1,288 | 37.6% | 50% |
| Utilities | 418 | 42.8% | 50% |
| Lifts | 265 | 13.2% | 72.1% |
| Other charges | 2,507 | 42.2% | 50% |
| Cleaning | 506 | 45.8% | 48.1% |
| Staffing & concierge | 151 | 25.2% | 50% |
| Gardening & grounds | 233 | 39.9% | 50% |
| Legal & professional costs | 624 | 51.8% | 41.7% |
| Administration charges | 355 | 65.9% | 50% |
London by postcode area
Areas with fewer than 30 challenged items are not shown separately.
| Area | Decisions | Items (n) | Reduced or disallowed | Median reduction when reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BS | 16 | 50 | 18% | 10% |
| South West London (SW) | 523 | 1,729 | 38.5% | 50% |
| SO | 23 | 57 | 26.3% | 66.4% |
| Harrow (HA) | 38 | 174 | 59.8% | 56.4% |
| North West London (NW) | 198 | 830 | 42.5% | 50% |
| PL | 15 | 54 | 59.3% | 36% |
| RH | 16 | 31 | 19.4% | 85.4% |
| Kingston (KT) | 32 | 81 | 40.7% | 16.4% |
| ME | 13 | 58 | 56.9% | 53.1% |
| West London (W) | 303 | 1,475 | 28.9% | 45.8% |
| BN | 65 | 183 | 29% | 20% |
| TN | 37 | 82 | 15.9% | 65.3% |
| TQ | 10 | 39 | 41% | 70.8% |
| Sutton (SM) | 42 | 237 | 42.2% | 40.2% |
| CT | 15 | 100 | 19% | 25.9% |
| Croydon (CR) | 84 | 536 | 45.5% | 40% |
| South East London (SE) | 239 | 1,309 | 46.1% | 50% |
| Uxbridge (UB) | 22 | 185 | 60.5% | 47.9% |
| Bromley (BR) | 33 | 132 | 44.7% | 36% |
| Romford (RM) | 30 | 173 | 52% | 43.9% |
| Twickenham (TW) | 36 | 142 | 35.9% | 46.5% |
| Enfield borders (EN) | 25 | 85 | 55.3% | 44.1% |
| Ilford (IG) | 13 | 57 | 42.1% | 32.9% |
| GU | 14 | 41 | 29.3% | 15% |
| North London (N) | 164 | 821 | 43% | 42.1% |
| City of London (EC) | 22 | 84 | 36.9% | 24.4% |
| Central London (WC) | 30 | 76 | 36.8% | 17.9% |
| BH | 32 | 148 | 45.9% | 97.6% |
| East London (E) | 198 | 931 | 34.9% | 56% |
| Dartford borders (DA) | 12 | 86 | 32.6% | 91.9% |
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.