Rights and Obligations to be sent out with Service Charges

Management companies’ duty under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 has been to provide leaseholders with a summary of their rights and obligations relating to Administration Charges. Whilst this requirement became effective from 30th September 2003 no actual wording for the document was prescribed. SI 2007 No. 1258 (16th April 2007) now provides the necessary wording to be used.

Further duties followed from Ist October 2007 with enactment of Section 153 of the aforementioned Act. S 153 requires that a prescribed summary of leaseholders’ rights and obligations in prescribed text must accompany all demands for payment of a service charge.

Both of the above are requirements you, as a Residential Management Company, or your Property Managing Agent, must be carrying out.

A tenant/leaseholder may withhold payment of their service charges unless the prescribed summary is not supplied with the service charge demand.

Both form and content of the summary are set out in the Statutory Instrument Number 1258 as shown at www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/uksi_20071258_en_1

A link to the prescribed wording is shown above It must be in “printed or typewritten form of at least 10 point”