MAN/00CH/LSC/2022/0022 — service charge decision
In MAN/00CH/LSC/2022/0022, decided 2 December 2022, the First-tier Tribunal considered 2 disputed service charge items at Flats 56 & 84 Friars Wharf Apartments, Green Lane, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear and reached a mixed result: 2 items were reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: Flats 56 & 84 Friars Wharf Apartments, Green Lane, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Decision date: 2 December 2022
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
Managing agent named in the decision: Zenith Management Limited.
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities (2019-20) | £1,177.21 | £417.56 | Reduced | Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
| Utilities (2019-20) | £1,177.21 | £417.56 | Reduced | Costs unreasonably incurred (s19(1)(a)) |
Section 20C order: refused.
Key passages (verbatim)
“the original total electricity costs incurred in the sum of £121,583 cannot have been reasonably incurred in their totality if they were subject to pending credit notes worth over half that amount”
“the Tribunal has calculated that once the 1/85th shares of the credit notes are applied in the sum of £759.65 per property, the true balance attributable to reasonably incurred costs set out in the Demands ought to have been £417.56 per property”
“The problem was ultimately of the Respondent's own making through the careless actions of its first agents, Bradley Hall.”
“it is fair to say that the issue had taken longer to resolve than perhaps could have been the case.”
“The Tribunal does not agree with the Respondent's submission that the Applicant's case lacked merit or was misconceived, albeit that some elements of the application were misdirected.”
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.