Final Regulatory Impact Assessment: Residential leasehold reform i) Summary of tenants' rights and obligations in relation to service charges. ii) Summary of tenants' rights and obligations in relation to administration charges

Published	N/A
Status	Final
Type(s)	Impact assessments
Site	Housing
Product code	i) 07HC04710/a ii) 07HC04710/b
Price	Free

Summary

The objective of these RIA documents is to ensure that sufficient and consistent information is provided to tenants about their statutory rights and obligations in relation to administration and service charges.

i) Tenants (leaseholders) of flats may be asked to hand over large sums of money (service charges) to their landlord, or the manager of their property, to pay for works and services in respect of the property. Demands for service charges must be made in accordance with the terms of each individual tenancy or lease. While tenants have a number of rights where service charges are concerned they are not always aware of the rights available to them. Section 153 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (new section 21B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985), which will require a landlord to provide a summary of a tenant's rights and obligations in relation to service charges when demanding service charges, will therefore be brought into effect from 1 October 2007.

ii) Tenants (leaseholders) may be asked by the landlord for payment of administration charges where these can be recovered under the terms of the lease. This can be for such things as seeking the landlord's approval or consent, for example erecting a satellite dish or building an extension, or when seeking information from the landlord. Prior to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, there was widespread concern and complaint about landlords whose imposed administration charges which were unreasonable in relation to the costs involved.

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