How do service charge challenges fare at the Northern tribunal?
Across 447 First-tier Tribunal service charge decisions heard in the Northern region (2019–2026), 31.7% of 1,712 challenged items were reduced or disallowed; the median reduction, where made, was 39.1%. (n=1,712, 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 Northern
| Cost head | Items (n) | Reduced or disallowed | Median reduction when reduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reserve fund contributions | 57 | 33.3% | 38.6% |
| Buildings insurance | 166 | 32.5% | 46% |
| Management fees | 179 | 41.3% | 28.4% |
| Major works | 278 | 13.3% | 10% |
| Repairs & maintenance | 173 | 38.2% | 45% |
| Utilities | 80 | 32.5% | 48.9% |
| Lifts | 34 | 8.8% | — |
| Other charges | 428 | 30.4% | 28.8% |
| Cleaning | 62 | 32.3% | 45% |
| Staffing & concierge | 41 | 17.1% | 24.4% |
| Gardening & grounds | 58 | 32.8% | 55.4% |
| Legal & professional costs | 96 | 49% | 37.5% |
| Administration charges | 59 | 69.5% | 40.3% |
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.