CHI/00MS/LSC/2023/0047 — service charge decision
In CHI/00MS/LSC/2023/0047, decided 13 December 2023, the First-tier Tribunal considered 4 disputed service charge items at Walton Court, 30 Archers Road, Southampton, SO15 2TE and reached a mixed result: 1 item was reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: Walton Court, 30 Archers Road, Southampton, SO15 2TE
Decision date: 13 December 2023
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities (2023-24) | £61,020.68 | £57,903.81 | Reduced | Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Utilities (2023-24) | £1,719.72 | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Utilities (2023-24) | £13,817.96 | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Other charges (2023-24) | £4,301.68 | — | Allowed in full | — |
Section 20C order: refused.
Key passages (verbatim)
“The Respondent says that following receipt of the revised invoice which includes the additional units previously under estimated £3,116.87 will be removed from the 2023-2024 year-end actual charge.”
“Communal lighting £1,719.72”
“Communal heating and hot water £13,817.96”
“Balancing Charge for 21/22 £4,301.68”
“The Tribunal is surprised by the sparsity of documentation in respect of the tenancies in this case. Where much of the substance of the terms and conditions relating to the tenancy are left to supplementary documents it is difficult to understand why copies of the documents relevant to the individual tenancy agreements were not kept as a permanent record thus avoiding the uncertainty that has rendered this application necessary.”
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.