service charges – Page 5 – Current Awareness

Leases, tribunals and contractual costs – Nearly Legal

Posted January 10th, 2017 in costs, landlord & tenant, leases, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘The vexed issues of costs in service charge disputes rumble on. Willow Court Management Company (1985) Ltd v Alexander [2016] UKUT 0290 (LC) (our note) set out guidance for how and when rule 13 costs awards will be engaged and awarded in the First Tier Tribunal (for unreasonable conduct). But in this case, the landlord had been awarded 20% of their costs under a Rue 13 decision, but then sought to recover the full costs under a contractual entitlement to costs of an enforcement action under the lease, and sort the FTT’s determination of those as a variable administration charge.’

Nearly Legal, 9th January 2017

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

23 Dollis Avenue (1998) Limited v Vejdani [2016] UKUT 365 – Tanfield Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in appeals, consultations, news, regulations, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘A failure to comply with the Service Charge (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003 (“the Regulations”) could be relevant to the reasonableness of the amount of service charge to be paid under section 19(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. However, it is simply one factor to be considered. In the instant case, the non-compliance comprised including within the estimate the estimated cost of works not within the proposed works; the amount demanded would be reduced by excluding that ‘extra’ work.’

Tanfield Chambers, 10th October 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

In the Tribunals… – Nearly Legal

Posted October 10th, 2016 in costs, landlord & tenant, news, rent, service charges by sally

‘Ms K had a weekly tenancy of a flat (initially her daughter’s flat but assigned to her in 2014 by mutual exchange). The tenancy agreement provided for the payment of rent and also a weekly payment for service charge, originally £14.60. In 2015 the service charge was raised to £16.22. The tenancy agreement specified payment of the service charge but the space for the services to be provided was left blank.’

Nearly Legal, 10th October 2016

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Unreasonable Conduct in the First-tier Tribunal – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted July 26th, 2016 in appeals, news, regulations, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘On 22 June 2016, the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) gave judgment in three conjoined appeals concerning the proper interpretation of Rule 13 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rules 2013; four members of Hardwicke appeared in the case. The appeals shared a number of facts: each arose out of a dispute over service charges payable under the lease of a flat; each concerned a dispute between a lessee and a tenant owned management company; and in each the award of costs was greater than the amount of service charge in issue in the proceedings.’

Hardwicke Chambers, 14th July 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

A judge by any other name would smell… much the same – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted July 12th, 2016 in boundaries, covenants, enfranchisement, jurisdiction, land registration, leases, news, pilot schemes, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘Did you know that a judge of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) may be able to hear a county court case and vice versa? Under a scheme being piloted at present, such a thing is indeed possible.’

Hardwicke Chambers, 13th June 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Management Issues at Mixed-Use Developments – Tanfield Chambers

Posted July 12th, 2016 in consultations, covenants, enfranchisement, housing, leases, news, service charges by sally

‘By their very nature, mixed-use developments involve multiple parties with competing interests. This often leads to disputes regarding the management of the estate and the cost of maintaining it and, ultimately, to leaseholders wanting to take control (either by exercising the right to collective enfranchisement or the right to manage).’

Tanfield Chambers, 10th June 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Restaurant staff ‘should keep their tips’ – BBC News

Posted May 3rd, 2016 in consultations, employment, news, remuneration, service charges by tracey

‘Waiting staff should receive their tips in full and it should be clearer to customers that gratuities are optional, the business secretary has said.’

BBC News, 2nd May 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Practical advice on forfeiture – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted April 27th, 2016 in civil procedure rules, forfeiture, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, mortgages, news, repossession, service, service charges, time limits by sally

‘The tail-end of 2015 threw up one of those London bus-type quirks where in less than a fortnight I acted for a landlord, a lessee and a mortgagee in three cases concerning, at least in part, the issues of (a) service of forfeiture proceedings, and (b) the defendant’s non-attendance at the first hearing at which a possession order was made.’

Hardwicke Chambers, 19th April 2016

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

VAT and service charges: indivisible or not indivisible-is that the question? – Tanfield Chambers

Posted April 26th, 2016 in appeals, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals, VAT by sally

‘This article gives consideration of the decision of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) in Janine Ingram v Church Commissioners for England [2015] UKUT.’

Tanfield Chambers, 26th April 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Just walk away (beforehand) – Nearly Legal

Posted January 4th, 2016 in holidays, landlord & tenant, leases, news, service charges by sally

‘Briefly, the issue was that lease clauses for some (but not all) holiday chalet leases in the Gower effectively provided for a 10% per annum increase in fixed charges for maintenance etc. The compound effect of this was that leases that started with a £90 pa service charge in 1974 would have a charge of £1,025,004 pa by the end of the term in 2072. Even by 2012, the amount payable was considerably in excess of the actual costs to the landlord of the services.’

Nearly Legal, 1st January 2016

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Joint ownership and landlords: who serves notice? – Tanfield Chambers

Posted September 4th, 2015 in enfranchisement, landlord & tenant, leases, news, service charges by sally

‘Joint tenancy has been the only means of ownership of property at law since the Law of Property Act 1925 relegated tenancy in common to equitable ownership only. Despite the 90 years which have elapsed, joint ownership as it impacts on day to day management of residential leasehold property is not always understood. It is not uncommon, on an enfranchisement of a terraced house converted into two flats, for the freehold to be acquired by the two lessees jointly. What then? Must both decide on service charge expenditure together? What happens if one of the two refuses to join in, can the other sue? What if one of the two breaches their lease as leaseholder? These are issues which have often arisen in cases I have dealt with. The answers lie in an analysis of the trust law implications of joint ownership.’

Tanfield Chambers, 18th August 2015

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

‘It did seem to be expensive’ – Nearly Legal

Posted August 14th, 2015 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, service charges by tracey

‘Gateway (Leeds) Management Ltd v (1) Naghash (2) Shamsizadeh [2015] UKUT 333 (LC). If a head leaseholder, or managing company passes on as a service charge, rent charged by a freeholder for property in order to provide services, does this amount to a variable service charge for the purposes of s.18 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and so only payable if the rent costs were reasonably incurred and if the services or works to which they relate were of a reasonable standard?’

Nearly Legal, 8th August 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

‘It did seem to be expensive’ – Nearly Legal

Posted August 11th, 2015 in appeals, costs, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, service charges, tribunals by sally

If a head leaseholder, or managing company passes on as a service charge, rent charged by a freeholder for property in order to provide services, does this amount to a variable service charge for the purposes of s.18 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and so only payable if the rent costs were reasonably incurred and if the services or works to which they relate were of a reasonable standard?

Nearly Legal, 9th August 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Service charges, the burden of proof and reasonableness of decisions – Park Square Barristers

Posted July 28th, 2015 in appeals, burden of proof, costs, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘Last week wrote an introductory article on a service charge case, The Gateway (Leeds) Management Ltd v Naghash and Shamsizadeh (citation above), a decision of Martin Rodger QC, Deputy President in the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), in which I acted for the Defendants/Respondents. The facts are set out in that piece, and I do not propose to rehearse them here.’

Park Square Barristers, 15th July 2015

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

Service Charges in Mixed Use Developments – Tanfield Chambers

Posted July 28th, 2015 in consultations, landlord & tenant, news, service charges by sally

‘By their very nature, mixed-use developments involve multiple parties with competing interests. This often leads to disputes regarding the management of the estate and the cost of maintaining it.’
Full story

Tanfield Chambers, 7th July 2015

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

“These wretchedly conceived clauses”: the Supreme Court considers the degree to which ‘commercial common sense’ can be deployed in contractual interpretation (Arnold v Britton & Ors [2015] UKSC 36) – Henderson Chambers

Posted July 27th, 2015 in interpretation, leases, news, service charges by sally

‘Tenants of a holiday park will ultimately be obliged to pay over £1m a year per chalet, after the Supreme Court endorsed leases in which the service charge increases by 10% a year – regardless of the actual costs of providing those services.

Henderson Chambers, 16th June 2015

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

The Supreme Court interprets fixed service charges – 36 Bedford Row Property Blog

Posted June 16th, 2015 in appeals, covenants, leases, news, service charges, Supreme Court by sally

‘The Supreme Court has handed down judgment in Arnold v. Britton & Ors. [2015] U. K. S. C. 36, concerning the construction of service charge clauses for holiday chalets in Oxwich Bay, South Wales (pictured). In so doing, it has taken the opportunity to reiterate and re-emphasise some fundamental principles of contractual interpretation.’

36 Bedford Row Property Blog, 11th June 2015

Source: www.36property.co.uk

Contract entitled landlord to raise service charge irrespective of increase in costs, says UK Supreme Court – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 12th, 2015 in contracts, landlord & tenant, leases, news, service charges, Supreme Court by sally

‘Lease provisions that would ultimately increase service charges payable by the tenants of a number of holiday homes near Swansea to more than £1 million a year should be allowed to stand, the UK’s highest court has ruled.’
Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 11th June 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

“New for Old”: New terms in renewed leases under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 require good reasons – New Square Chambers

Posted March 17th, 2015 in covenants, landlord & tenant, leases, news, service charges by sally

‘In the absence of agreement, the terms of any new lease to be granted under the provisions of Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 are to be determined by the court in accordance with sections 32 to 35 of that 1954.’

Full story (PDF)

New Square Chambers, February 2015

Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk

Service Charge Disputes in the First Tier Tribunal – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted January 6th, 2015 in evidence, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘Over many years of representing landlords (usually by their appointed property management company) in leasehold service charge disputes before the Tribunals, various themes have developed. One of them is my frustration, in the majority of cases, at the quality of evidence with which I must present my client’s case. It actually isn’t that difficult to get your best evidence before the Tribunals and secure the best possible recovery. Especially with the benefit of hindsight!’

Hardwicke Chambers, 17th December 2014

Source: www.hardwickec.co.uk

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