Paddington Basin Developments Ltd and Others v West End Quay Estate Management Ltd and Another: ChD 20 Apr 2010

The parties disputed whether a particular arrangement was covered by and subject to the 2003 Regulations.
Lewison J said: ‘[T] here are two separate strands to the policy underlying the regulation of service charges. Parliament gave two types of protection to tenants. First, they are protected by section 19 from having to pay excessive and unreasonable service charges or charges for work and services that are not carried out to a reasonable standard. Second, even if service charges are reasonable in amount, reasonably incurred and are for work and services that are provided to a reasonable standard, they will not be recoverable above the statutory maximum if they relate to qualifying works or a qualifying long term agreement and the consultation process has not been complied with or dispensed with. It follows that the consultation provisions are imposed for an additional reason; namely, to ensure a degree of transparency and accountability when a landlord decides to undertake qualifying works or enter into a qualifying long term agreement. As Robert Walker LJ observed in Martin and Seale v Maryland Estates Ltd (2000) 32 HLR 116, 125 in relation to a previous version of the consultation requirements: ‘Parliament has recognised that it is of great concern to tenants, and a potential cause of great friction between landlord and tenants, that tenants may not know what is going on, what is being done, ultimately at their expense.”

Judges:

Lewison J

Citations:

[2010] EWHC 833 (Ch), [2010] NPC 46, [2010] 1 WLR 2735, [2010] 27 EG 86, [2010] 2 EGLR 35, [2010] 17 EG 94 (CS)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Service Charges (Consultation etc) Regulations 2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedDaejan Investments Ltd v Benson and Others SC 6-Mar-2013
Daejan owned the freehold of a block of apartments, managing it through an agency. The tenants were members of a resident’s association. The landlord wished to carry out works, but failed to complete the consultation requirements. The court was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 27 September 2022; Ref: scu.408548