The 18-month rule: when a late service charge bill can't be recovered
Old costs turning up on a new bill? There's a time limit, and it's on your side.
Section 20B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 stops landlords sitting on costs for years and then billing them all at once. It's a simple rule and a common, often decisive, point in a service charge challenge.
The rule
If costs were incurred more than 18 months before you were sent a demand for them, you don't have to pay your share of those costs. The exception: if, within the 18 months, the landlord told you in writing that the costs had been incurred and that you'd be required to contribute to them later. That's usually called a section 20B notice.
Where it shows up
- Balancing charges, where year-end accounts arrive late and include costs from long ago.
- Major works invoiced long after completion. Check the section 20 consultation was done too.
- Catch-up demands after a change of managing agent.
How to use it
- Find the date each cost was incurred: invoices and payment dates, not the date of the accounts. A section 21 summary of costs and the supporting receipts help.
- Compare it with the date of the demand that first asked you to pay.
- Check whether you received a written section 20B notice within 18 months.
- If not, write to say those costs aren't recoverable under section 20B, and pay the rest.
It's one of the points I wish I'd checked first in my own challenge.
General information about leasehold law in England, not legal advice.