MAN/30UK/LSC/2024/0616 — service charge decision
In MAN/30UK/LSC/2024/0616, decided 21 April 2026, the First-tier Tribunal considered 7 disputed service charge items at Charter House, 20 Winckley Square, Preston and found largely for the landlord: 0 items were reduced or disallowed. Full decision on GOV.UK below.
Property: Charter House, 20 Winckley Square, Preston
Decision date: 21 April 2026
Full decision: Read on GOV.UK
Managing agent named in the decision: Homestead Consultancy Services Ltd.
What was challenged and what the tribunal decided
| Item | Demanded | Allowed | Outcome | Grounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repairs & maintenance (2023) | £100 | £0 | conceded | Not payable under the lease |
| Repairs & maintenance (2023) | £145 | £0 | conceded | Not payable under the lease |
| Repairs & maintenance (2023) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Legal & professional costs (2023) | £5,400 | £5,400 | Allowed in full | — |
| Repairs & maintenance (2023) | — | — | Allowed in full | — |
| Legal & professional costs (2023) | £2,400 | £2,400 | Allowed in full | — |
| Other charges (2025) | — | £61.31 | Allowed in full | — |
Section 20C order: refused.
Key passages (verbatim)
“Toilet repair 24/04/2023 - £100.00 - £2.04 per Applicant”
“Window repair 07/12/2023 - £145.00 - £2.96 per Applicant”
“the hopper serves more than one apartment. As the Respondent put it, rainwater drainage is a 'whole building' issue... It is recoverable as a service charge cost of keeping the structure of the building in repair.”
“it was reasonably necessary for the Respondent to instruct solicitors to prepare the instructions to the surveyors... fees paid were nonetheless entirely proportionate, equating to just 3.6% of the surveyors' fees and less than 0.1% of the total remediation costs.”
“the works of repair were to the common parts of the building i.e. the fabric of the external wall surrounding the window frame, not to the window itself... costs were reasonably incurred in carrying out repairs to the common parts.”
“a fee of just over £2400 is well within the range of reasonable legal fees which might be expected of a firm providing that sort of advice.”
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.