Question 1

What is a Section 20 consultation and why did I get a huge bill?

Accepted Answer

**Section 20** of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires a landlord or management company to **consult leaseholders** before carrying out major works or entering a long-term agreement. It is the main statutory protection leaseholders have against large unexpected service charge bills.

**When it applies:**

**Qualifying works** costing any single leaseholder more than **£250**. Note this is per leaseholder, not the total — so in a block of forty flats, works costing £10,000 can trigger it.

**Qualifying long-term agreements** lasting more than twelve months and costing any leaseholder more than **£100 per year** — insurance, cleaning contracts, lift maintenance.

**The consultation stages:**

**Stage one — notice of intention.** Describing the proposed works and inviting **observations within 30 days**, plus nominations of contractors leaseholders would like invited to tender.

**Stage two — notice of estimates.** Providing at least two estimates, including one from any nominated contractor and one from someone unconnected with the landlord, with a further 30 days for observations.

**Stage three — notice of reasons**, if the cheapest estimate is not chosen.

**The consequence of failing to consult is the crucial part.** If the landlord does not follow the procedure properly, their recovery is **capped at £250 per leaseholder** regardless of what the works actually cost. This is a serious sanction, and it is why properly run managing agents are careful about it.

Landlords can apply to the tribunal for **dispensation** from consultation — commonly granted for genuine emergencies — but they must apply, and the tribunal may impose conditions.

**What consultation does not give you.** It is a right to be **consulted**, not a veto. Leaseholders cannot block works by objecting, and the landlord need only have regard to observations.

**What you can do:** respond within the deadlines in writing; nominate contractors; scrutinise the specification, since scope is where costs balloon; and challenge **reasonableness** of service charges at the **First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)**, which is the real remedy.

**Check your lease** for how costs are apportioned.

Question 2

What are estate management charges on new-build estates?

Accepted Answer

Annual charges paid by freehold homeowners on modern estates for the upkeep of communal areas the council never adopted — roads, verges, play areas, drainage and open space — and the arrangement is

Question 3

What is the difference between a Section 21 and a Section 8 notice?

Accepted Answer

Both are notices a landlord uses to begin ending an assured shorthold tenancy in England, and they work on entirely different bases. Section 21 — the "no fault" notice. The landlord does not have to

Question 4

What protection do tenants have against retaliatory eviction?

Accepted Answer

Protection preventing a landlord using the no-fault route to possession in response to a tenant complaining about disrepair — and it is narrower and more procedural than most tenants expect. What it

Question 5

How can a landlord actually increase the rent?

Accepted Answer

Only through a defined route, and which route applies depends on the type of tenancy and what the agreement says — a landlord simply announcing a higher figure does not make it payable. The available

Question 6

How do tenancy deposit schemes work?

Accepted Answer

In England and Wales, a landlord taking a deposit for an assured shorthold tenancy must protect it in a government-authorised scheme within 30 days of receiving it, and provide the tenant with

Question 7

What is indemnity insurance in a house purchase?

Accepted Answer

A one-off insurance policy bought during conveyancing to cover the financial consequences of a legal defect, instead of fixing the defect — and it is a workaround, not a solution. What it does. It

Related Questions