It is the time of year when the Great British weather batters
buildings up and down the country causing signs to fall off some
and roofs to cave in! Beware, though, if you are the Landlord or
manager of a mixed use building – emergency repairs may cost
you more than you think.
Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 contains detailed
provisions regulating residential service charges. If you are the
Landlord or manager of a mixed use building which includes long
residential leases (i.e. leases longer than 21 years) you will need
to comply with Section 20 if you want to recover service costs in
full from your residential tenants.
Section 20 imposes a two and sometimes three part consultation
procedure for one-off expenditure that would result in a re-charge
to any individual residential tenant of more than £250
(“Qualifying Works”). This procedure can take two to
three months and applies to all Qualifying Works, urgent or
not.
