Tenants who are unhappy with service charges they are asked to pay can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) for a determination of whether the charges are payable. Recently, the tenants of two flats were successful in persuading the FTT that the costs of repairs to the roofs of their buildings had not been reasonably incurred.
The tenants' flats were in neighbouring buildings owned by the same landlord. The landlord sought contributions to the costs of repairing and redecorating the exteriors of the buildings, including repairs to the roofs. The tenants applied to the FTT for a determination of liability to pay service charges under Section 27A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
The tenants argued that both roofs had undergone substantial repair in 2012 and that the need for further repairs had been caused by defaults on the part of the landlord. They claimed that the landlord should have obtained a comprehensive warranty from the contractor who carried out the works in 2012. The landlord accepted that a warranty he had obtained had been invalidated because he had not complied with a condition requiring annual inspections. One of the tenants also claimed that repairs to her roof were necessary because of damage caused by the tenants of another flat using it as a sun terrace.
The FTT found that the costs of the roof repairs had not been reasonably incurred. The landlord had not obtained a sufficiently comprehensive warranty and had failed to comply with the terms of the warranty he did obtain. The FTT also accepted that the need for repairs to one of the roofs had arisen because of the landlord's default in not preventing his tenants from accessing it.
The FTT granted the tenants' application for an order requiring the landlord to reimburse their application fees, and ordered that he could not pass on any of his own costs of the proceedings to the tenants by way of service or administration charges.