It can be stressful receiving an unexpected bill from your landlord.
We would suggest that in the first instance, you contact your landlord and ask the landlord to prove that the fee is reasonable and justified. For example, you could ask for a detailed breakdown of the costs.
As you are selling your flat, you are unlikely to want to do anything that delays your sale. If all else fails, it may be possible to pay the fee and dispute it at a tribunal after you have sold the property.
For further information on how to challenge an administration fee or service charge, you can refer to chapter 6 in this advice guide.
Here is an example of how another leaseholder responded to an unreasonably high administration charge:
Penny Roberts contacted us to seek advice on what to do when she received a high administration charge for subletting her flat.
We asked to see the lease to find out whether she had to pay a fee at all.
The lease did require Penny to apply to the landlord for a licence before subletting. Because Penny was already aware of this requirement she had already made the application, but she thought the fee was disproportionate to the work involved in producing the licence to her.
We advised Penny that even though she was required to pay an administration fee for a licence to sublet, by law that administrations fee had to be reasonable and it must be accompanied by an administration charges summary of tenant’s rights and obligations.
Penny was prepared to take the matter to the tribunal to challenge it there but she did not need to. She persisted with the landlord and she managed to get a reduction in the fee by negotiating with them.
For more information on administration charges, you can read our advice guide.
