CHI/00HN/LSC/2019/0124 — service charge decision
In CHI/00HN/LSC/2019/0124, decided 29 March 2021, the First-tier Tribunal considered 13 disputed service charge items at Flat 4, Wootton Towers, 1a Wootton Mount, Bournemouth and reached a mixed result: 3 items were reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: Flat 4, Wootton Towers, 1a Wootton Mount, Bournemouth
Decision date: 29 March 2021
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
Managing agent named in the decision: Right 2 Manage (Southern) Limited.
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major works (2019) | £14,872.96 | £14,872.96 | Allowed in full | — |
| Major works (2021) | £3,152.11 | — | Reduced | Works not necessary, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Major works (2019-2021) | — | £13,068.94 | Reduced | Works not necessary, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Repairs & maintenance (2019-2021) | — | — | Disallowed entirely | Works not necessary, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Major works (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Major works (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Major works (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Major works (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Major works (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Utilities (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Repairs & maintenance (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Repairs & maintenance (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Repairs & maintenance (2019-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
Section 20C order: granted.
Key passages (verbatim)
“Feb 2019 invoice: £14,872.96”
“Plus Feb 2021 invoice £3152.11 / Less items 5,6 and 7 totalling one quarter of £12,697 / Less 12% of items 5,6 and 7 (for supervision)”
“A reasonable sum to seek on account of the service charge to be incurred for the major works in February 2019 and November 2019 would have been a total of £13,068.94.”
“Items 5,6 and 7: brickwork, pointing and rendering/stone detailing... I consider the best approach to these three items... that the cost of them should not be sought in an advance payment.”
“Item 1: external front steps... the proposed cost is reasonable for an on-account charge.”
“Item 2: external lights... The cost of the two lights (which is all the Respondent has been charged for) is reasonable.”
“It is clear that initially, the effect of the Deed of Variation was not taken into account by the landlord and its managing agent when the initial service charge was claimed from the Respondent because exactly one quarter of the quoted costs for the work was claimed by the invoice of April 2019. Even when the fresh section 20 proceedings were initiated, when the scope of the section 20 works was expanded and a new invoice for the quoted cost was served on the Respondent in March 2020, there was still no allowance for the Deed of Variation in respect of Flat 4. This was not put right until February 2021 when a credit of £1,909.50 was made.”
“This is an expert's report and is an attempt to circumvent the fact that the Applicant failed to apply for permission to adduce expert evidence within the timescale laid down in the Tribunal's directions.”
“I say 'purported expert's report' because it does not comply with Rule 19 of the Tribunal Rules. I have therefore treated this report with caution, recognising that it has been prepared for the Respondent without the usual safeguards that Rule 19 is designed to provide.”
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.