How often do tribunals reduce major works charges?
Across 2,804 individually challenged major works items in First-tier Tribunal service charge decisions from 2019–2026, 16.8% were reduced or disallowed; where the tribunal made a reduction, the median was 40.1% (n=160 reductions with amounts stated). (n=2,804, as of 15 August 2026)
The figures on this page cover every individually challenged major works item in our corpus of published First-tier Tribunal service charge decisions, and are recomputed nightly.
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 for challenged major works items
| Outcome | Items | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced | 238 | 8.5% |
| Disallowed entirely | 234 | 8.3% |
| Allowed in full | 2,246 | 80.1% |
| Withdrawn | 19 | 0.7% |
Most common grounds when the tribunal cut the charge
- Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) — 173 items
- Dispensation refused — 29 items
- Landlord could not evidence the cost — 84 items
- Not payable under the lease — 75 items
- Other grounds — 65 items
- Poor standard of work — 55 items
- Works not necessary — 78 items
- No Section 20 consultation — 130 items
By tribunal region
| Region | Items (n) | Reduced or disallowed | Median reduction when reduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 1,633 | 15.7% | 42.1% |
| Eastern | 252 | 19.8% | 50% |
| Southern | 517 | 18.8% | 32.2% |
| Midlands | 124 | 25.8% | 14.3% |
| Northern | 278 | 13.3% | 10% |
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.