The Service Charges (Summary of Rights and Obligations, and Transitional Provision) (England) Regulations 2007
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2007/1257 |
| Year | 2007 |
2007 No. 1257
Landlord and tenant, england
The Service Charges (Summary of Rights and Obligations, and Transitional Provision) (England) Regulations 2007
Made 16th April 2007
Laid before Parliament 24th April 2007
Coming into force 1st October 2007
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 21B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 19851and section 178 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 20022, makes the following Regulations:
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Service Charges (Summary of Rights and Obligations, and Transitional Provision) (England) Regulations 2007 and shall come into force on the 1st October 2007.
Application
2.—(1) Subject to regulation 4, these Regulations apply where, on or after 1st October 2007, a demand for payment of a service charge3is served in relation to a dwelling4.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3) these Regulations apply to dwellings in England which are subject to a lease5.
(3) These Regulations do not apply where—
(a)
(a) the lease is not a long lease within section 26 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985; and
(b)
(b) the landlord is a local authority, a National Park Authority or a new town corporation.
Form and content of summary of rights and obligations
3. Where these Regulations apply the summary of rights and obligations which must accompany a demand for the payment of a service charge must be legible in a typewritten or printed form of at least 10 point, and must contain—
(a) the title “Service Charges – Summary of tenants’ rights and obligations”; and
(b) the following statement —
“1 This summary, which briefly sets out your rights and obligations in relation to variable service charges, must by law accompany a demand for service charges. Unless a summary is sent to you with a demand, you may withhold the service charge. The summary does not give a full interpretation of the law and if you are in any doubt about your rights and obligations you should seek independent advice.
2 Your lease sets out your obligations to pay service charges to your landlord in addition to your rent. Service charges are amounts payable for services, repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance or the landlord’s costs of management, to the extent that the costs have been reasonably incurred.
3 You have the right to ask a leasehold valuation tribunal to determine whether you are liable to pay service charges for services, repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance or management. You may make a request before or after you have paid the service charge. If the tribunal determines that the service charge is payable, the tribunal may also determine—
who should pay the service charge and who it should be paid to;
the amount;
the date it should be paid by; and
how it should be paid.
However, you do not have these rights where—
a matter has been agreed or admitted by you;
a matter has already been, or is to be, referred to arbitration or has been determined by arbitration and you agreed to go to arbitration after the disagreement about the service charge or costs arose; or
a matter has been decided by a court.
4 If your lease allows your landlord to recover costs incurred or that may be incurred in legal proceedings as service charges, you may ask the court or tribunal, before which those proceedings were brought, to rule that your landlord may not do so.
5 Where you seek a determination from a leasehold valuation tribunal, you will have to pay an application fee and, where the matter proceeds to a hearing, a...
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