Refurbishment of Common Parts
A key point to look out for in service charge expenditure is the
cost of "renewing" or "refurbishing" items in
the common parts of the landlord's estate.
There is a risk that Landlords could use these provisions as a
means of upgrading their estate at the expense of the tenants.
Such expenditure could be quite disproportionate to the
tenant's interest in the estate, especially if they have a
relatively short-term lease.
It is therefore advisable to request that such heads of
expenditure be either deleted entirely or limited to circumstances
where items are "beyond economic repair".
Careful attention also needs to be paid to whether drafting the
service charge provisions allows the landlord to refurbish the
estate simply because they consider it desirable or only in
circumstances when there is a genuine need for repairs.
