How often do tribunals reduce utilities charges?
Across 659 individually challenged utilities items in First-tier Tribunal service charge decisions from 2019–2026, 37.9% were reduced or disallowed; where the tribunal made a reduction, the median was 43.9% (n=102 reductions with amounts stated). (n=659, as of 4 July 2026)
The figures on this page cover every individually challenged utilities 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 utilities items
| Outcome | Items | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced | 155 | 23.5% |
| Disallowed entirely | 95 | 14.4% |
| Allowed in full | 385 | 58.4% |
| Withdrawn | 10 | 1.5% |
Most common grounds when the tribunal cut the charge
- Other grounds — 30 items
- Apportionment error — 36 items
- Leaseholder evidence insufficient — 8 items
- Not payable under the lease — 36 items
- Demand formally invalid — 11 items
- Section 20B 18-month time limit — 15 items
- Landlord could not evidence the cost — 74 items
- Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) — 115 items
By tribunal region
| Region | Items (n) | Reduced or disallowed | Median reduction when reduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands | 67 | 28.4% | 42.7% |
| Eastern | 92 | 29.3% | 28.9% |
| Southern | 115 | 47% | 39.1% |
| Northern | 65 | 36.9% | 33.3% |
| London | 320 | 39.4% | 49.9% |
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: 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.