What is a Section 20 notice?

"Section 20" refers to Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It requires a landlord to consult leaseholders before spending money on two kinds of thing: qualifying works (typically major works such as re-roofing, external redecoration or lift replacement), and a qualifying long-term agreement — a contract lasting more than 12 months, such as a lift maintenance or block management contract.

The £250 and £100 thresholds

The trigger is set per leaseholder, not by the total bill. Consultation is required when:

• Qualifying works — any one leaseholder's contribution would be more than £250.
• Qualifying long-term agreements — any one leaseholder would pay more than £100 a year under the agreement.

Because the threshold is per flat, quite modest total spends can require consultation in a small block, while a large building can cross £250 per leaseholder on almost any significant repair.

The consultation stages

The statutory consultation runs in stages set out in regulations under Section 20. For typical qualifying works these are:

• Stage 1 — Notice of Intention. The landlord tells leaseholders it intends to carry out works, describes them, gives reasons, and invites written observations within 30 days. Leaseholders may also nominate a contractor from whom the landlord should seek an estimate.
• Stage 2 — Notification of Estimates. The landlord obtains estimates (including from any properly nominated contractor), summarises them, makes them available for inspection, and again invites written observations within 30 days.
• Notice of Reasons. Where the landlord does not choose the cheapest estimate or a leaseholder's nominee, it must give a further notice explaining its reasons.

The exact steps differ for qualifying long-term agreements and for works carried out under an existing agreement, but the principle is the same: notify, allow observations, and take those observations into account.

Your rights during consultation

You are entitled to make written observations at each stage, and the landlord must have regard to them. You can nominate a contractor for the landlord to approach for an estimate. And you can inspect the estimates and supporting documents. A landlord who treats the consultation as a box-ticking exercise — or who starts the works before it is finished — risks the statutory cap on what it can recover.