LON/00BK/LSC/2023/0151 — service charge decision
In LON/00BK/LSC/2023/0151, decided 26 January 2024, the First-tier Tribunal considered 18 disputed service charge items at 21 Crawford Buildings, Homer Street, London W1H 4NZ and reached a mixed result: 6 items were reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: 21 Crawford Buildings, Homer Street, London W1H 4NZ
Decision date: 26 January 2024
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleaning (2018-2019) | £228.13 | £205.31 | Reduced | Poor standard of work, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Cleaning (2019-2020) | £205.75 | £185.17 | Reduced | Poor standard of work, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Cleaning (2020-2021) | £210.76 | £189.68 | Reduced | Poor standard of work, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Cleaning (2021-2022) | £263.27 | £201.07 | Reduced | Poor standard of work, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Cleaning (2022-2023) | £269.86 | £206.09 | Reduced | Poor standard of work, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Cleaning (2023-2024) | £297.13 | £226.91 | Reduced | Poor standard of work, Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Repairs & maintenance (2018-2019) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Management fees (2018-2019) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Management fees (2019-2020) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Management fees (2020-2021) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Management fees (2021-2022) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Management fees (2022-2023) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Management fees (2023-2024) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Buildings insurance (2019-2020) | £211.99 | £211.99 | Allowed in full | — |
| Buildings insurance (2020-2021) | £216.18 | £216.18 | Allowed in full | — |
| Buildings insurance (2021-2022) | £261.87 | £261.87 | Allowed in full | — |
| Buildings insurance (2022-2023) | £300.34 | £300.34 | Allowed in full | — |
| Buildings insurance (2023-2024) | £393.87 | £393.87 | Allowed in full | — |
Section 20C order: refused.
Key passages (verbatim)
“we have assessed that as a result of the deficient standard of cleaning the Applicant has been charged 10% more for cleaning costs than the value of what he has received”
“we have assessed that as a result of the deficient standard of cleaning the Applicant has been charged 10% more for cleaning costs than the value of what he has received”
“we have assessed that as a result of the deficient standard of cleaning the Applicant has been charged 10% more for cleaning costs than the value of what he has received”
“replace the 27% increase between 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 with a 6% increase (being the rough median of the usual yearly increases); and then reduce all of the totals for each year by 10%”
“replace the 27% increase between 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 with a 6% increase (being the rough median of the usual yearly increases); and then reduce all of the totals for each year by 10%”
“replace the 27% increase between 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 with a 6% increase (being the rough median of the usual yearly increases); and then reduce all of the totals for each year by 10%”
“It seems to us that this method makes no sense and is more likely to lead to abuse and inaccuracy than a system without this form of "check". Essentially, an employee who has performed less than the required number of hours is encouraged to overstate their hours simply in order to be able to submit their timesheet.”
“In the absence of any evidence of the reasons for the Council's decision, we only have the fact that this was a political decision made by elected representatives. In our judgment, that by itself is not enough to satisfy the requirement for a reasonable process.”
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.