LON/00AR/LSC/2022/0162 — service charge decision
In LON/00AR/LSC/2022/0162, decided 25 July 2023, the First-tier Tribunal considered 5 disputed service charge items at Verve Apartments, Mercury Gardens, Romford, Essex and found largely for the leaseholder: 4 items were reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: Verve Apartments, Mercury Gardens, Romford, Essex
Decision date: 25 July 2023
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
Managing agent named in the decision: Warwick Estates.
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities (2019/20) | £204,917 | £0 | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease |
| Utilities (2020/21) | — | £0 | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease |
| Utilities (2021/22) | £176,706 | — | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease |
| Other charges (2022/23) | £34,000 | £0 | conceded | Not payable under the lease, Other grounds |
| Legal & professional costs | — | £0 | Disallowed entirely | Not payable under the lease |
Section 20C order: granted.
Key passages (verbatim)
“The amounts charged by the Respondent for the costs of electricity in 2019/20 and in 2020/21 are not payable by leaseholders. Judge Powell was satisfied that the electricity supplied to individual flats could not be charged as a communal service charge under Schedule 7 of the lease.”
“The amounts charged by the Respondent for the costs of electricity in 2019/20 and in 2020/21 are not payable by leaseholders.”
“Electricity costs charged in the service charge accounts for 2019/2020 and 2021/22, being £204,917 and £176,706 respectively”
“in light of the recent implementation and the effect of the Building Safety Act 2022, the Respondent wishes to concede the application in relation to the fire safety works.”
“The lease did not permit the recovery of the Respondent's legal costs of dealing with the application through the service charge and the proposed costs would not be payable by the Applicants, if demanded.”
“This case is yet a further cautionary lesson that any landlord and their managing agent must have due regard to the terms of the lease in managing residential accommodation.”
“The current position is that the Respondent accepts that the service charge accounts for 2019/20 and 2020/21 need to be revised in the light of the Tribunal's Interim Decision. Revised accounts have not been prepared. No service charge accounts have been prepared for 2021/22, and 2022/23. This is not acceptable.”
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.