LON/00AC/LSC/2023/0097 — service charge decision
In LON/00AC/LSC/2023/0097, decided 24 August 2023, the First-tier Tribunal considered 4 disputed service charge items at 6 Barrydene, Oakleigh Road North, London N20 9HG and reached a mixed result: 1 item was reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: 6 Barrydene, Oakleigh Road North, London N20 9HG
Decision date: 24 August 2023
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
Managing agent named in the decision: Davis Brown (Mo Nimba).
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifts (2023) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Repairs & maintenance (2023) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Cleaning (2023) | £2,585 | £750 | Reduced | Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Other charges (2023) | £4,305 | — | Allowed in full | — |
Section 20C order: refused.
Key passages (verbatim)
“We have also not seen any evidence that the budgeted lift maintenance costs for 2023 are themselves unreasonable… the Applicant's challenge to the estimated lift maintenance charges fails.”
“We are not persuaded that there is any basis for concluding that the Respondent's estimated figure for general maintenance is an unreasonable one.”
“The estimated charges for cleaning for 2023 are unreasonably high. In the tribunal's assessment a reasonable charge would be £750.00, of which the Applicant's share is 5.5%. Therefore only £41.25 is payable by the Applicant.”
“The Respondent has provided a convincing explanation for the increase in the budgeted cost for 2023… There is no evidence before us that the Respondent has acted unreasonably in connection with the contract negotiations.”
“The Applicant's challenge to the estimated charges for general maintenance is rather unfocused. He has made comments querying some of the actual charges for 2022, but he has offered no real evidence to support those queries and in any event those queries are not directly relevant to the question of whether the budgeted charges for 2023 are reasonable.”
“the Respondent struggled to explain what had changed to justify such an enormous increase”
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.