Types of tribunal application and the forms to use

You can apply to the tribunal for a decision about whether you must pay a variable service charge.

You can apply about charges you have already been asked to pay, or charges your landlord plans to make, whether or not you have paid the charge.

Your landlord can also apply. For example if they’re planning to do work on the building, they can ask the tribunal for a decision that their proposals are reasonable and that you must pay, before they start spending money on the work.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 3
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT6

Find out more about challenging service charges.

An administration charge is an amount that you might need to pay as an individual leaseholder, for things such as requesting approvals under the lease, requesting information or documents, failing to make a payment by the due date, or breaking a condition in your lease. These charges must be reasonable.

You can apply to the tribunal for a decision on whether you have to pay a variable administration charge, and how much the charge should be.

If the amount of an administration charge is fixed in your lease, you can apply to the tribunal to decide whether it can be changed.

Your landlord can also apply.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 1
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT2

Find out more about challenging an administration charge.

Landlords sometimes include their legal costs of managing the building in the service charge or an administration charge. This can include the costs of a tribunal case. This can mean that if you apply to the tribunal, you’ll have to pay extra costs through your service charge, even if you’re successful.

Under Section 20C of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, you can apply for an order that all or part of your landlord’s costs arising from the tribunal proceedings are not to be included in the service charges (called a Section 20C order).

Under paragraph 5A of Schedule 11 to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, you can apply for an order to reduce or remove your liability to pay an administration charge for your landlord’s litigation costs.

If you’re applying to the tribunal, you can use the same form to apply for these orders.

If your landlord applies to the tribunal, you can request an order separately.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 7
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT4

Under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, your landlord must follow a process to consult the leaseholders about work to your building, or a new agreement for work or services, if it will cost leaseholders more than a certain amount through the service charge.

If your landlord has a good reason, for example if the work is urgent, they can apply to the tribunal for permission not to consult. The tribunal will grant permission if they decide this is reasonable.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 5
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT5

Find out more about what happens if your landlord does not consult.

Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, you have the right to extend the lease of your flat. If you qualify, you can be granted a new lease with 90 years added to the term, and the ground rent reduced to zero (a peppercorn).

If you cannot agree the price or terms of the lease extension through negotiation with your landlord, you can apply to the tribunal to decide.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 9
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT12 (or LVT13 if your landlord is missing)

When you extend the lease of your flat you must pay your landlord’s reasonable costs. If you cannot agree on the costs with your landlord, you can apply to the tribunal to decide what you should pay.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 10
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT14

Find out more about lease extension for flats through the formal route.

Under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, you have the right to extend the lease of a leasehold house. If you qualify, you can get 50 years added to the lease length, and the ground rent changed to a “modern ground rent” set by legislation.

If you cannot agree on the terms with your landlord, you can apply to the tribunal to decide.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 9
• Wales: contact the tribunal for an application form

When you extend the lease of your house you must pay your landlord’s reasonable costs. If you cannot agree on the costs with your landlord, you can apply to the tribunal to decide what you should pay.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 10
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT10

Find out more about lease extension for leasehold houses.

Under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, you have the right to buy the freehold of your leasehold house. If you qualify, you can buy the freehold at a price set by a statutory valuation method.

If you cannot agree on the price or terms of the sale with your landlord, you can apply to the tribunal to decide.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 9
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT11

When you buy the freehold of your house you must pay your landlord’s reasonable costs. If you cannot agree on the costs with your landlord, you can apply to the tribunal to decide what you should pay.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 10
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT10

Find out more about buying the freehold of a leasehold house.

Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, if you own a leasehold flat you have the right to join other leaseholders to buy the freehold of the building, through a process called collective enfranchisement.

If you qualify, you can make an offer to the landlord. If you cannot agree with the landlord on the terms, you can apply to the tribunal to decide.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 9
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT15

When you buy a share of the freehold you must pay your landlord’s reasonable costs. If you cannot agree on the costs with your landlord, you can apply to the tribunal to decide what you should pay.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 10
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT14

Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, owners of leasehold flats have the right to work together to take over management of the building through a right to manage company, if they meet certain criteria.

If your landlord disputes your right to manage claim, you can apply to the tribunal to decide whether you’re entitled to the right to manage.

You can also apply to the tribunal to claim the right to manage if your landlord is missing.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 8
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT1

Find out more about setting up the right to manage.

You can apply to the tribunal to decide on a range of disputes with your landlord related to the right to manage:

• to decide about the amount of reasonable costs that the right to manage company should pay to the landlord for providing information
• to decide the amount of service charge funds (accrued uncommitted service charges) that should be paid to the right to manage company
• to give the right to manage company authority to grant an approval under a lease, if the landlord objects
• to decide if you can apply again for the right to manage, within 4 years of a previous right to manage company losing the right to manage

The tribunal forms are:

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 8
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT1

Find out more about setting up the right to manage and running a right to manage company.

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, you can apply to the tribunal to appoint a manager for your building, if you can show that your landlord is not meeting their responsibilities. You can apply on your own, or with a group of other leaseholders.

Your landlord can also apply, if they are not satisfied with how a right to manage company is running the building.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 2
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT8

Find out more about asking a tribunal to appoint a new property manager.

Normally you must serve a notice on your landlord before applying to the tribunal to appoint a manager (called a Section 22 notice).

You can apply to the tribunal for permission not to serve the notice, if it is not reasonably possible to serve it, for example if the landlord is missing.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 2
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT8

Find out more about asking a tribunal to appoint a new property manager.

A leaseholder or the landlord can apply to the tribunal to have an order that appoints a manager changed or ended (discharged). You would need to give reasons, such as showing that the appointed manager is not meeting their responsibilities.

If the order is ended, management of the building will be transferred back to the landlord.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 2
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT8

Find out more about asking a tribunal to appoint a new property manager.

You cannot normally make changes to a lease without your landlord’s permission. If you and your landlord cannot agree voluntarily about changes to the lease of your flat, under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 you can apply to the tribunal for a decision.

The tribunal will only grant permission if the lease does not have satisfactory conditions for things such as:

• repairs, maintenance and services such as cleaning
• buildings insurance
• service charges, including calculating the shares of the service charge for each flat, so that they add up to 100%

If a leaseholder makes an application to change the lease for one flat, anyone else named on the lease can apply to the tribunal for the variation order to also apply to one or more other leases.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 4
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT7

Find out more about lease variation.

You or your landlord can apply to the tribunal to vary two or more leases in a building to fix a problem, if the change cannot be achieved unless all the leases are changed in the same way. You must serve notice of the application on anyone likely to be affected.

If the application is for up to 8 leases, all (or all but one) of the people concerned (the leaseholders and the landlord) must give their permission for the application.

If the application is for 9 or more leases, at least 75% of the people concerned must give their permission, and no more than 10% can oppose the application.

The tribunal can order anyone concerned to pay compensation to anyone likely to be disadvantaged by the change in the leases. They cannot make an order if changing the leases would cause a disadvantage to another leaseholder which could not be helped by paying compensation.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 4
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT7

Find out more about lease variation.

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 you or your landlord can apply to the tribunal to vary the lease of a house, but only if the conditions relating to buildings insurance are not satisfactory.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 4
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT7

Find out more about lease variation.

Some leases say that you must insure your property through an insurer nominated or approved by your landlord. Under the Schedule to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, you can apply to the tribunal for a decision on whether the insurance is satisfactory and whether the cost is excessive.

The tribunal can make an order requiring your landlord to nominate another insurer.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 3
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT6

Find out more about buildings insurance.

If you break the conditions of your lease, such as by not paying service charges, your landlord may be able to take steps to end your lease and take back the property (known as “forfeiture”). They would start this process by giving you notice under Section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 (a Section 146 notice).

Your landlord cannot serve a Section 146 notice unless you have agreed or admitted that you have broken a condition of your lease, or a court or the tribunal has decided that you have done so.

Your landlord can apply to the tribunal to confirm that you have broken a condition of your lease.

The tribunal will send you a copy of the application, and you’ll have an opportunity to present your side.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 6
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT3

Find out more about breaching your lease and forfeiture.

An estate management scheme is a scheme set up under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 or the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 to protect the character and appearance of an estate. They’re used for areas such as garden cities that have special architectural or historic interest.

If your property is within an estate management scheme, you must contribute towards the costs of meeting the schemes aims, such as works to maintain the estate and preserve its appearance.

Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, the charges must be reasonable. You can apply to the tribunal for a decision on whether a charge is reasonable and whether you have to pay.

If the charge, or a formula for calculating the charge, is not stated in the scheme agreement, the tribunal can decide what is reasonable. This becomes the maximum amount the manager of the scheme can charge.

If a charge or a formula for calculating a charge is stated in the scheme agreement, the tribunal can vary the agreement to amend the amount or to change or delete the formula.

You can apply whether or not you have already paid the charge. But you cannot apply if you have already agreed to the charge, so it’s important to make it clear that you’re paying under protest.

Any clause in your lease or any other agreement which appears to commit you to taking part in arbitration will not be valid and will not prevent you from applying to the tribunal.

• Tribunal form for England: Leasehold 3
• Wales: contact the tribunal to apply

If your landlord is not willing to grant recognised status for a tenants’ association, you can apply to the tribunal. If the tribunal agrees that the association should be recognised it will grant a certificate of recognition.

• Tribunal form for England: TA1
• Tribunal form for Wales: LVT9

Find out more about setting up a recognised tenants’ association.

If you’re setting up a tenants’ association you may need to ask the landlord for details of the other leaseholders, so you can invite them to join. If the landlord will not provide this you can apply to the tribunal for an order that requires them to respond to your request.

• Tribunal form for England: TA2

Find out more about using a request notice to get details of qualifying tenants.

If the tribunal has granted a certificate of recognition for a tenants’ association, the landlord could apply to the tribunal to have the certificate cancelled, which would remove recognition.

The tribunal might agree to cancel a certificate if the association no longer meets the criteria for recognition, or if there are problems with how it’s being run.

• Tribunal form for England: TA3

Find out more about running a tenants’ association and maintaining recognition.