Guide · Leasehold, England & Wales · Reviewed 12 July 2026
Is my service charge demand valid?
Before arguing about a single figure, check the demand itself. Two statutory requirements are failed often enough that they are the first thing a careful review looks at, and both mean the money is not payable as served.
Check one: the summary of rights
Every service-charge demand must be accompanied by a summary of tenants' rights and obligations, in wording prescribed by regulations, in at least 10-point type (s.21B Landlord and Tenant Act 1985; SI 2007/1257 in England). Not a paraphrase, and not a reference to a website — the prescribed text, with the demand.
If it wasn't there, you may withhold payment until a compliant demand is served, and the lease's late-payment machinery — interest, admin fees for chasing — cannot operate for the withheld period (s.21B(3)–(4)). Ask yourself honestly whether anything came with the demand; if you kept the envelope's contents, that is your evidence.
Check two: the landlord's name and address
A written demand must contain the landlord's name and address (s.47 Landlord and Tenant Act 1987), and the landlord must have furnished an England & Wales address for service of notices (s.48). A demand branded only with the managing agent's details fails s.47 — and the statute's consequence is blunt: the service-charge part "shall be treated for all purposes as not being due... at any time before that information is furnished".
This failure is common with offshore freeholders and with agents who issue demands on their own letterhead. Check the small print on every page before concluding it is absent — the information sometimes hides on the back page.
What a validity defect is worth — honestly
Time and leverage, not escape. Both defects are curable: the landlord serves a compliant demand and properly-supported charges revive. What you gain is a lawful pause, immunity from late-payment provisions during it, and a strong signal about how carefully the demand was assembled — demands that fail the formalities often mis-state the substance too. Any withholding should be communicated in writing with the section stated; see can I refuse to pay? for the protections and risks.
Get every check run on your demand — £149 fixedValidity, the 18-month rule, consultation, reasonableness and your lease, within 48 hours · £100 back if we find no grounds