Guide · Leasehold, England & Wales · Reviewed 12 July 2026
The 18-month rule on service charges
Section 20B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is one of the few grounds that kills a charge outright: if the landlord's costs were incurred more than 18 months before your demand was served, you are not liable for them — unless you were told about them, in writing, inside that window.
What the rule says
Two limbs. Under s.20B(1), a leaseholder is not liable to pay costs incurred more than 18 months before a demand for payment is served. Under s.20B(2), that time bar does not apply if, within 18 months of the costs being incurred, the leaseholder was notified in writing that the costs had been incurred and that a contribution would be required.
The rule exists because leaseholders budget year to year. A bill arriving in 2026 for works finished in 2024 defeats that, so Parliament put a shelf life on stale costs.
The four things that decide it
- When the costs were incurred. In general terms, when the landlord paid or was invoiced — not when the works were done, and not when the landlord got round to billing leaseholders.
- When the demand was served on you. The date you were demanded the money, not the accounting year it relates to.
- Whether the gap exceeds 18 months. Binary once the two dates are established.
- Whether a qualifying written notice landed inside the window. It doesn't have to be a formal document — demands, or even newsletters mentioning the works and a future contribution, can qualify depending on wording. Check anything the landlord sent.
Where it usually bites
Balancing charges are the classic case: a demand that reconciles a past year's actual spend, served long after the underlying invoices were paid. If a balancing item references works completed two years ago and nothing in writing warned you a contribution would be required, s.20B is squarely in play. The rule does not apply to on-account demands for future costs — only to costs already incurred — so read the demand's own labels carefully.
How to prove it
The incurral dates rarely appear on the demand itself. That is what the statutory inspection rights are for: a written summary of costs under s.21 of the 1985 Act, then inspection of the invoices and receipts behind it under s.22 — the inspection itself is free, and non-compliance without reasonable excuse is a summary offence (s.25). Sometimes the landlord's own covering note gives the dates away. Either way, the position is factual: once the dates are established, there is no discretion to argue about.
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