Counsel at Tennyson Chambers have plenty of excellent experience in dealing with service charge disputes and applications under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Such disputes, for example, may arise from a Landlord’s failure to consult tenant(s) about the works to be carried out, where the sums sought to be levied by way of service charge are said to be unreasonable by the tenant, where there is a dispute as to whether the lease allows the charges to be made to the tenant, and where service charge needs to be assessed.
Our barristers have experience in dealing with both large and small service charge disputes from a single leaseholder to large blocks of many flats. Our successful advocacy in the First Tier Tribunal (Property) Chamber (previously known as the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal) has led to the successful assessment of multimillion pound service charge claims for those we have represented.
We can represent both landlords and tenants in such proceedings before the Tribunal or in the County Court whether by direct public access or by way of instructions from a firm of solicitors. If you are a single leaseholder or a group of many leaseholders we can assist with legal advice and representation. We can advise clients in both residential lease and commercial lease contexts.
We also cover any appeals which arise from decisions of either the County Court or the Tribunal. The work of our barristers has included –
- cases involving sections 18, 19 and 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (“the Act”);
- Consultations requirements under sections 20 ,20ZA and section 20A, 20 B ,20C of the Act
- Requests for regular statements of account under section 21 of the Act;
- Withholding of service charge under section 21A of the Act;
- Cases involving notices to accompany demands for service charge and requests to inspect documents under section 22 of the Act which are alleged to support service charge accounts;
- Requests for information by a tenant of their landlord;
- The effect of a change of landlord (section 23A of the Act) and
- Applications under section 27 A of the Act for an assessment of the service charge.
Examples of our work include successfully obtaining judgement for just under £2.1 million in the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in relation to a block of 197 flats and the assessment of the reasonableness of the service charge for all 197 flats. Substantial works of construction and renewal of pipework of the entire building had taken place. The creditor construction company claimed disruption damages, and many long leaseholders withheld service charge with objections from the tenant’s association.
We are energetic, positive, client focused, and aim to obtain a successful commercial solution which is in the best interests of the client in the circumstances which pertain to their case. We also can provide early neutral evaluation of cases by way of an independent opinion on the merits of a case.
To assist you in your choice of advocate please refer to our barrister pages for our barrister profiles, and make use of the short list facility and enquiry form.
The following members of Chambers may be engaged for Landlord and Tenant – service charge disputes namely –
Contact Us
For more information about our members and services please contact us.
Our telephone number in Southampton United Kingdom is +44 (0) 2381 511511.
For clients wishing to have a conference in London United Kingdom then please dial the London UK appointments number of +44 (0)203 407 0047.
Alternatively, you may email practicemanager@tennysonchambers.com.