Category: service charges

What role does mediation play in social housing? – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 12th, 2013 in arbitration, dispute resolution, housing, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘At a case management hearing in the LVT (as it then was) back in March 2013, the chair said that, whilst normally he would direct that the parties to that dispute should attempt mediation, he was aware that it was “usually pointless” doing so where public funds are at stake as public bodies generally cannot justify the arbitrary reductions that can be necessary for a mediation to succeed, and fear creating some form of precedent. Misguided as I thought the chair was, it did seem likely that he might have been speaking from many years of experience.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 3rd December 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Pre-Construction Consultation and the Futility of Dispensation – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted August 22nd, 2013 in construction industry, consultations, landlord & tenant, news, service charges by sally

“Generally, any landlord who wishes to enter into a qualifying long term agreement (‘QLTA’), viz. an agreement for a term of more than 12 months (subject to certain exceptions) as a result of which any tenant will pay a service charge of more than £100 (‘the appropriate amount’) for the relevant service charge period, must either consult in accordance with the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/1987) (‘the Regulations’) or obtain a dispensation from the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (‘PC’). Failure to consult will result in the relevant service charge being capped at the appropriate amount.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 13th August 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

“Back to the Future” – The Retrospective Variation of Leases of Flats under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 – Tanfield Chambers

Posted August 6th, 2013 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

“Sometimes the draftsman gets it wrong. Sometimes his only mistake is to fail to predict the future. Either way a landlord can face a serious shortfall if the combined percentages of service charges payable under the leases for the block do not add up to 100%. While at first blush, the landlord’s shortfall is the tenants’ windfall, defective leases can seem a much less attractive prospect if the result is that the landlord is reluctant to provide services.”

Full story (PDF)

Tanfield Chambers, 27th July 2013

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Water, water everywhere… – NearlyLegal

Posted July 30th, 2013 in appeals, burden of proof, news, service charges, tribunals, valuation, water companies by sally

“There are those who say that service charges are a dry subject. To them I say, welcome to Wallace-Jarvis v (1) Optima (Cambridge) Ltd (2) Khazai [2013] UKUT 328 (LC).”

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NearlyLegal, 29th July 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

BDW Trading Ltd and another v South Anglia Housing Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted July 17th, 2013 in consultations, landlord & tenant, law reports, service charges by sally

BDW Trading Ltd and another v South Anglia Housing Ltd [2013] WLR (D) 282

“Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which provided for consultation requirements to apply to ‘qualifying long term agreements’ (‘QLTA’), had no application to a long term agreement entered into in relation to buildings which had not yet been constructed, or which were not let at the time of the agreement.”

WLR Daily, 15th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Being civil – NearlyLegal

Posted May 15th, 2013 in civil procedure rules, injunctions, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, striking out by sally

“Morshead Mansions has been involved in a quite astonishing amount of litigation. Bailii throws up 13 hits, cases in the LVT, Lands Tribunal, High Court and Court of Appeal. It’s really must be the most awful burden on all those involved. And now, there is another case to add to the list, Di Marco v Morshead Mansions Ltd [2013] EWHC 1068 (Ch).”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 14th May 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

To be incurred or not to be incurred? – NearlyLegal

Posted May 13th, 2013 in appeals, landlord & tenant, news, service charges by sally

“Those with good memories will remember that a year or so ago the Upper Tribunal gave judgment in a case called Om Property Management Ltd v Burr (our note here) in which the issue was at what point in time does a cost became incurred for the purposes of s.20B, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It decided that costs became incurred on the presentation of an invoice or on payment. Mr Burr appealed against that decision and the Court of Appeal recently gave its judgment on the subject.”

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NearlyLegal, 10th May 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Burr v OM Property Management Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted May 9th, 2013 in appeals, covenants, energy, landlord & tenant, law reports, service charges, time limits by sally

Burr v OM Property Management Ltd: [2013] EWCA Civ 479;   [2013] WLR (D)  164

“When determining the amount of any service charge payable by a tenant for services supplied, on the natural and ordinary meaning of the words of section 20B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, ‘costs’ were not ‘incurred’ on the mere provision of the services or supplies made to the landlord or management company.”

WLR Daily, 3rd May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Burr v OM Property Management Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted May 8th, 2013 in appeals, landlord & tenant, law reports, service charges, time limits by sally

Burr v OM Property Management Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 479; [2013] WLR (D) 164

“When determining the amount of any service charge payable by a tenant for services supplied, on the natural and ordinary meaning of the words of section 20B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, ‘costs’ were not ‘incurred’ on the mere provision of the services or supplies made to the landlord or management company.”

WLR Daily, 3rd May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Daejan Investments Ltd v Benson and others – WLR Daily

Posted March 12th, 2013 in appeals, consultations, covenants, landlord & tenant, law reports, service charges, Supreme Court by sally

Daejan Investments Ltd v Benson and others [2013] UKSC 14; [2013] WLR (D) 94

“Where a landlord’s failure to consult fully with tenants before carrying out major repairs to a block of flats would preclude recovery from the tenants of the full cost of the works unless a leasehold valuation tribunal granted a dispensation under section 20ZA(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 from the relevant consultation requirement, dispensation was not to be refused as a punitive measure solely because a landlord had breached the consultation requirements in the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations (SI 2003/1987)) but rather the tribunal could grant the dispensation on terms which reflected the actual prejudice which the tenants had suffered.”

WLR Daily, 6th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Daejan Investments Limited (Appellant) v Benson and others (Respondents) – Supreme Court

Posted March 11th, 2013 in appeals, consultations, jurisdiction, landlord & tenant, law reports, service charges, Supreme Court by sally

Daejan Investments Limited (Appellant) v Benson and others (Respondents) [2013] UKSC 14 | UKSC 2011/0057 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 6th March 2013

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Service charge consultation becomes an even larger elephant trap (The Chancellor’s valedictory hand grenade) – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted February 8th, 2013 in consultations, landlord & tenant, news, service charges by sally

“On 21 December 2012, Sir Andrew Morritt, then Chancellor of the High Court, handed down judgment in Phillips & Goddard v Francis & Francis [2012] EWHC 3650 (Ch), a case which has dramatic ramifications for residential landlords and managing agents. The state of the legislation and its most recent judicial interpretation will see landlords bogged down in consultations and applications for dispensation, and at risk of being unable to recover legitimate expenditure. ”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 30th January 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Phillips and another v Francis and another – WLR Daily

Posted January 11th, 2013 in landlord & tenant, law reports, service charges by sally

Phillips and another v Francis and another: [2012] EWHC 3650 (Ch); [2013] WLR (D) 7

“On the true construction of the meaning and effect of the scheme relating to service charges imposed by sections 20 and 20ZA of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, as amended by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, section 151 identification of one or more sets of qualifying works was not required. The emphasis in the current legislation had shifted from identifying and costing the works before they started to notifying an intention to carry out the works and limiting the amount of the individual contributions sought to pay for them after their completion.”

WLR Daily 21st December 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Right to Manage – the Court of Appeal speaks – NearlyLegal

Posted October 29th, 2012 in appeals, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, news, service charges by sally

“Gala Unity Ltd v Ariadne Road RTM Co Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1372 is important for those doing long leasehold work. I’m not entirely sure it’s right (or, perhaps a better way of putting it, I’m not sure it’s a good decision, it may be right within the statutory framework), but I’ll save that for the end. Since this is the first Right to Manage case to reach the Court of Appeal, I’ll set out some of the relevant background.”

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NearlyLegal, 27th October 2012

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Service charges can form part of rent for VAT purposes where transactions “closely linked” – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 28th, 2012 in news, rent, service charges, VAT by sally

“Charges for cleaning and maintenance in respect of a commercial property lease may be treated as part of the rental of that property, and therefore exempt from value added tax (VAT), where the two charges are ‘closely linked’, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 27th September 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Service provider fined £50,000 for misleading consumers over app charges – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 5th, 2012 in consumer protection, news, service charges, telecommunications, tribunals by sally

“A premium rate service (PRS) provider has been fined £50,000 after the industry’s regulator ruled that it had charged mobile phone users to download a games application without adequate consent to do so.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 4th September 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Sun, Sea, Sex and Service Charges! – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted July 17th, 2012 in landlord & tenant, news, service charges by sally

“When carrying out major works to residential premises, landlords take the risk that their expenditure will not be recoverable unless they comply with the plethora of statutory regulations which now police the recovery of service charges. Compliance with the consultation requirements should be simply a question of employing a good management agent who is familiar with the statutory framework. If all the hoops contained in the regulations are jumped through there should be no bar to recovery of the sums spent.”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 16th July 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Recent developments in service charges – Tanfield Chambers

Posted August 23rd, 2011 in landlord & tenant, news, service charges by sally

“Two recent cases once again highlight the importance for landlords of making proper and timely demands for service charges from their lessees and the potential for tenants to exploit a landlord`s failure to do so.”

Full story (Word)

Tanfield Chambers, 15th August 2011

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Daejan Investments Ltd v Benson and Others – WLR Daily

Posted February 1st, 2011 in covenants, landlord & tenant, law reports, service charges by sally

Daejan Investments Ltd v Benson and Others [2011] EWCA Civ 38; [2011] WLR (D) 24

“The proper exercise of the discretion in section 20ZA of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as inserted) to dispense with the requirement of consultation laid down in the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003 did not depend on financial consequences for the landlord or tenant of granting or refusing such a dispensation.”

WLR Daily, 31st January 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Commissioners for Revenue and Customs v Annabel’s (Berkeley Square) Ltd and Others – Times Law Reports

Posted May 13th, 2009 in law reports, remuneration, service charges by sally

Commissioners for Revenue and Customs v Annabel’s (Berkeley Square) Ltd and Others

Court of Appeal

“Restaurant employers were not entitled to use discretionary tips, gratuities and service charges paid by customers to waiters and bar staff by card or cheque made out to the employer and subsequently transmitted to the workers by a tronc system to top up the pay of their employees to the national minimum wage.”

The Times, 13th May 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk