As a leaseholder, can I ask to see the financial records relating to the service charge costs?
Yes, a leaseholder can, within 6 months of receiving a written summary of costs, ask the landlord to provide reasonable facilities to inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting the summary and for taking copies or extracts from them. Moreover, a leaseholder can ask an accountant or surveyor to carry out an audit of the financial management of the premises containing your dwelling, to establish the obligations of your landlord and the extent to which the service charges you pay are being used efficiently. It will depend on circumstances whether a leaseholder can exercise this right alone or only with the support of others living in the premises. • What is included in the building’s service charge The lease sets out a leaseholder’s obligations to pay service charges to the managing agent and ground rent to the freeholder. Service charges are amounts payable for services, repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance or the freeholder’s costs of management, to the exten
