This information applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland
A lease is a legal contract and you can only be charged for services if they are specified in the lease. You should check your lease carefully to see what has to be paid for and how much you can be charged.
The law gives you certain rights where your lease says that you have to pay for services, repairs, maintenance, insurance or management costs in addition to ground rent. These rights include the right to be given a summary of the costs on which any charge is based, the right to look at the accounts and receipts for the charge, the right to be consulted about major, non-urgent works and the right to challenge unreasonable charges.
If you are asked to pay for something which is not covered by your lease, or you think that a charge is too much, you should start by writing to the freeholder explaining why you think the charge is wrong. If you are not satisfied with the response you can challenge the amount by applying to a leasehold valuation tribunal. You can make a challenge either when the work is proposed or when you receive a bill, but not if you have already agreed to make the payment.
You and the other leaseholders in your block may wish to form a tenants' or residents' association and negotiate jointly with the freeholder through that association.
For more information, see Buying a home.
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