LON/00AG/LSC/2020/0291 — service charge decision
In LON/00AG/LSC/2020/0291, decided 30 May 2021, the First-tier Tribunal considered 6 disputed service charge items at 22 Brookes Court, Baldwin Gardens, London EC1N 7RR and reached a mixed result: 4 items were reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: 22 Brookes Court, Baldwin Gardens, London EC1N 7RR
Decision date: 30 May 2021
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities (2015-16) | £889.57 | £889.57 | Allowed in full | — |
| Utilities (2016-17) | £679.51 | £679.51 | Allowed in full | — |
| Utilities (2017-18) | £838.23 | £755 | Reduced | Standard not reasonable (s19(1)(b)) |
| Utilities (2018-19) | £830.04 | £747 | Reduced | Standard not reasonable (s19(1)(b)) |
| Utilities (2019-20) | £566.73 | £510 | Reduced | Standard not reasonable (s19(1)(b)) |
| Utilities (2020-21) | £833.26 | £625 | Reduced | Standard not reasonable (s19(1)(b)) |
Section 20C order: granted.
Key passages (verbatim)
“there is no evidence before the tribunal of any real problems before the installation of the temporary boilers. The tribunal concludes therefore that the service charges charged by Camden for this period are reasonable.”
“The tribunal determines that the amount payable by way of service charge in respect of heating and hot water for 2016-2017 is £679.51, i.e. the net amount now claimed by Camden after the credit of £82.53.”
“a deduction of 10% should be made to the service charges for heating and hot water for this year to reflect those problems. This is intended in particular to take into account the evidence that the hot water was not fully hot.”
“a further deduction of 10% should be made to the service charges for heating and hot water for this year to reflect those problems, in addition to the 9 days credit allowed.”
“the credit already given by Camden is insufficient to reflect the extent of the inadequacy of the service provided... a further deduction of 10% to the service charges in respect of heating and hot water for 2018-2019, which are therefore assessed as £510”
“it is appropriate to make a reduction of 25% to the interim service charges for the 2020-2021 period.”
“The tribunal does not consider it credible that the repeated problems of intermittent lack of heating, and of lukewarm water, of which Ms Khanom has complained over an extended period of time are simply the result of her failing to understand how to operate the radiators.”
“the credit already given by Camden is insufficient to reflect the extent of the inadequacy of the service provided.”
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.