BIR/00FY/LIS/2023/0026 — service charge decision
In BIR/00FY/LIS/2023/0026, decided 23 April 2024, the First-tier Tribunal considered 4 disputed service charge items at Flats 3, 4, and 5, 78 Musters Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 7PS and reached a mixed result: 2 items were reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: Flats 3, 4, and 5, 78 Musters Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 7PS
Decision date: 23 April 2024
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
Managing agent named in the decision: Principle Estates Management.
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardening & grounds (2022) | £390 | £300 | Reduced | Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Cleaning (2022) | £575 | £600 | Allowed in full | — |
| Utilities (2022) | £1,134.08 | £650 | Reduced | Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)), Landlord could not evidence the cost |
| Buildings insurance (2022) | £997.91 | £997.91 | Allowed in full | — |
Section 20C order: granted.
Key passages (verbatim)
“We determine that the costs reasonably incurred for cleaning and grounds maintenance in 2022 were £900.00, and not £965.00, and each Applicant is therefore entitled to a service charge credit of one sixth of the overcharge, i.e. £10.83 each.”
“The accounts charge for cleaning is £575.00 and for grounds maintenance is £390.00 (total £965.00). As the analysis in Table 1 shows, there are invoices in the bundle to support an actual cost of £600.00 for cleaning and £300.00 for grounds maintenance (total £900.00).”
“We determine that the sum that would have been reasonably incurred for the landlord's electricity supply for 2022 is £650.00. This is our best rough and ready estimate, it being impossible to produce an accurate figure because of the inadequacy of the data available.”
“We determine that the sum of £997.91 charged in the service charge accounts for insurance was reasonably incurred.”
“Respectfully, it appears to us that the agent lost control of the electricity expenditure over a period of years by failing to take an actual reading of the meter at the start of each service charge year so that charges could be based on real consumption. It should also have been apparent to the agent that consumption charged in the invoices was excessive for a landlord's electricity supply to a small block of flats, and steps should have been taken to investigate the charges so that excessive charges were avoided.”
This summary is assembled from the structured record of the published decision; amounts appear only where the tribunal stated them. Always rely on the full decision itself.