How do service charge challenges fare at the Midlands tribunal?
Across 160 First-tier Tribunal service charge decisions heard in the Midlands region (2019–2026), 43.8% of 888 challenged items were reduced or disallowed; the median reduction, where made, was 33.3%. (n=888, as of 4 July 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 Midlands
| Cost head | Items (n) | Reduced or disallowed | Median reduction when reduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other charges | 268 | 45.9% | 33.1% |
| Cleaning | 56 | 17.9% | 33.4% |
| Buildings insurance | 62 | 38.7% | 48% |
| Repairs & maintenance | 117 | 59.8% | 42.9% |
| Major works | 93 | 31.2% | 14.3% |
| Management fees | 58 | 53.4% | 37% |
| Legal & professional costs | 50 | 58% | 33.3% |
| Administration charges | 48 | 54.2% | 30.2% |
| Utilities | 67 | 28.4% | 42.7% |
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: 2,383 decisions covering 12,898 individually disputed items, last updated 4 July 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.