S20b Landlord and Tenant 1985 Service Charges

Warning to Landlords: within 18 months of a service charge being incurred the Landlord must serve a Section 20b Notice on the Tenant. The service charges must have either been demanded from the Leaseholder or the Leaseholder must have been notified in writing that the costs have been incurred and that they as tenants are required to contribute to these costs by payment of the service charges in accordance with the terms of the Lease. If the Notice is not served in time the costs may not be recoverable from the tenant. This can be illustrated in Brent London Borough Council v Shulem B Association Ltd [2011] All ER(D) wherein the Chancery Division allowed an appeal by a tenant that, as they had not received adequate notification of the service charges, they were not liable to pay. Unfortunately for Landlords there is no standard format for a Notice, however our commercial real estate department at GAD is able to assist in preparing a bespoke Notice if required.