Private v1 previewEngland · Legal information, not advice
Service Charge Guide
Stage1of 5

Check the charge

Turn a worrying demand into specific questions the lease, accounts and evidence can answer.

Do these three things first

  1. Identify the lease clause and service-charge year.
  2. Record what was demanded, paid and actually provided.
  3. Separate each disputed item and the amount you say is payable.

What this stage can look like

Use these compact illustrations to recognise the work and improve what you already have. Keep your facts and existing document; add what is missing. The wording and figures below are hypothetical, not text to file unchanged.

A concern turned into a decision-ready row

A filled issue-schedule row shows the difference between a general complaint and a question the landlord or tribunal can answer.

Open the detailed guidance

Item and yearCommunal cleaning · 2025/26

Demanded and paid£420 · £420

Lease basisClause 4.3 permits reasonable costs of cleaning the common parts.

What is disputedSix monthly visits were charged. The contractor's visit record lists four.

EvidenceDemand, invoice, visit record, dated photographs and the request for missing attendance records.

Amount said payable£280, if the visits were equally priced: £420 × 4 ÷ 6.

Strengthen what you already have

  • Keep your existing complaint, but add the exact charge year, item and amount.
  • Replace folder names with stable document or page references.
  • Show how your proposed amount follows from the evidence instead of stating only that the bill is too high.

A focused request for the missing evidence

This wording identifies the charge, the documents needed and the gap they are meant to answer.

Open the detailed guidance

Please provide by [date] the invoice, contract or specification, service dates and evidence of payment for the £420 communal-cleaning charge in the 2025/26 account.

Please also identify the lease clause relied upon and explain whether a credit is due if fewer than six visits took place.

Strengthen what you already have

  • Refer to any earlier request and list only the documents still missing.
  • Keep the reply, attachments and proof of when they arrived.
  • Ask for records connected to a defined charge rather than the managing agent's entire archive.

Guidance for this stage

Open the topic that matches the work in front of you.

Decide what you are actually challengingTurn a general sense that a charge is wrong into a list of issues the lease, accounts and evidence can answer.8 min Organise neighbours without losing the detailCoordinate a building-wide problem while keeping each lease, share and remedy accurate.7 min

Templates and checklists

Adapt them to your case
Evidence checklistchecklistService-charge issue scheduleCSVNeighbour participant registerCSV