LON/00AE/LSC/2024/0242 — service charge decision
In LON/00AE/LSC/2024/0242, decided 27 January 2025, the First-tier Tribunal considered 9 disputed service charge items at Ground Floor Flat, 91 Cobbold Road, London NW10 9SU and found largely for the leaseholder: 9 items were reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: Ground Floor Flat, 91 Cobbold Road, London NW10 9SU
Decision date: 27 January 2025
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
Managing agent named in the decision: Emerald Estates / Mohammad Adnan Hussain.
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buildings insurance (2022-2024) | — | — | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease |
| Repairs & maintenance (2022) | £140 | — | Disallowed entirely | Demand formally invalid |
| Repairs & maintenance (2023) | £100 | — | Disallowed entirely | Demand formally invalid |
| Repairs & maintenance (2024) | £275 | — | Disallowed entirely | Demand formally invalid, Not payable under the lease |
| Management fees (2022) | £950 | — | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease, Fee excessive for service delivered |
| Management fees (2023) | £950 | — | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease, Fee excessive for service delivered |
| Management fees (2024) | £950 | — | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease, Fee excessive for service delivered |
| Other charges (2022-2024) | — | — | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease |
| Administration charges (2022-2024) | £1,050 | — | Disallowed entirely | Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
Section 20C order: granted.
Key passages (verbatim)
“clause 2(15) of the lease clearly places the insurance obligation on the Respondents. The Applicant claimed that the Respondents have failed to comply with the terms of clause 2(15) but such breaches cannot turn an insurance payment by the landlord into a service charge.”
“the demands do not comply with section 47. Further therefore, under section 47(2), the charges are not due.”
“the demands do not comply with section 47. Further therefore, under section 47(2), the charges are not due.”
“the wording clearly envisages the contribution being towards actual costs already incurred, rather than putative costs yet to be incurred … the estimated 2024 costs so far demanded are not payable but the actual costs may be so in due course once demanded.”
“more significant is the fact that the lease does not provide for the Applicant to be able to incur management fees … the service charges arising from management fees are not payable.”
“the lease does not provide for the Applicant to be able to incur management fees … the service charges arising from management fees are not payable.”
“both parties have considerable property experience … However, neither has seen fit to obtain any legal advice in relation to this dispute. Advice from any competent lawyer specialising in this area of the law would have seen at least some of the points of dispute dropped by both parties. Instead, they have wasted their own and the Tribunal's time with some clearly unmeritorious legal arguments … In future, both parties are urged to consult a lawyer before embarking on litigation.”
“Mr Akpom's beliefs, whether well-founded or not, have led him to see criminal fraud and conspiracy where the application of a little common sense would lead him to different conclusions and to demand levels of proof which, if applied to criminal trials, would see most defendants acquitted.”
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.