Section 21: how to request a summary of your service charge costs
The single most useful letter a leaseholder can send, and almost nobody sends it.
Under section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, you can ask your landlord in writing for a summary of the costs that make up your service charge. It turns a single number on a demand into a breakdown you can check. Almost every service charge challenge should start here.
What you're entitled to
- A written summary of the costs incurred for the relevant period, showing how they're reflected in the service charges.
- The chance to inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting the summary, and to take copies (section 22). You ask for this after you've received the summary.
- A summary of the building insurance, and to inspect the policy (section 30A).
The time limits
The landlord must provide the summary within one month of your request, or within six months of the end of the accounting period it covers, whichever is later. Once you have it, you can ask to inspect the supporting documents, and they must give you reasonable facilities to do so within a month.
How to ask
- Write to the landlord or the managing agent named on your demand. Email is fine if that's how they deal with you; keep a copy.
- Say you're requesting a summary of relevant costs under section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
- Name the period: the last accounting year, or the year your concerns relate to.
- Ask, in the same letter, for the insurance summary under section 30A if insurance is a big line.
- Note the date. If nothing arrives in time, chase in writing and say you'll take advice.
What to do with the summary
Compare it line by line with your budget and your lease. Look for costs the lease doesn't allow, major works without section 20 consultation, and costs from more than 18 months ago under the 18-month rule. This is the letter that made the difference in my own challenge.
General information about leasehold law in England, not legal advice.