Summary of rights and obligations
Summary of rights and obligations – England
“Administration Charges – Summary of tenants’ rights and obligations”; and
1. An administration charge is an amount which may be payable by you as part of or in addition to the [Service Charge} rent directly or indirectly—
for or in connection with the grant of an approval under your lease, or an application for such approval;
for or in connection with the provision of information or documents;
in respect of your failure to make any payment due under your lease; or
in connection with a breach of a covenant or condition of your lease.
If you are liable to pay an administration charge, it is payable only to the extent that the amount is reasonable.
3. Any provision contained in a grant of a lease under the right to buy under the Housing Act 1985, which claims to allow the landlord to charge a sum for consent or approval, is void.
4. You have the right to ask the First-tier Tribunal whether an administration charge is payable. You may make a request before or after you have paid the administration charge. If the tribunal determines the charge is payable, the tribunal may also determine—
who should pay the administration charge and who it should be paid to;
the amount;
the date it should be paid by; and
how it should be paid.
However, you do not have this right where—
a matter has been agreed to or admitted by you;
a matter has been, or is to be, referred to arbitration or has been determined by arbitration and you agreed to go to arbitration after the disagreement about the administration charge arose; or
a matter has been decided by a court.
5. You have the right to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order varying the lease on the grounds that any administration charge specified in the lease, or any formula specified in the lease for calculating an administration charge is unreasonable.
6. Where you seek a determination or order from the First-tier Tribunal, you will have to pay an application fee and, where the matter proceeds to an oral hearing, a hearing fee, unless you qualify for fee remission or exemption. Making such an application may incur additional costs, such as professional fees, which you may have to pay.
7. The First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal (in determining an appeal against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal) have the power to award costs in accordance with Section 29 of the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.
8. Your lease may give your landlord a right of re-entry or forfeiture where you have failed to pay charges which are properly due under the lease. However, to exercise this right, the landlord must meet all the legal requirements and obtain a court order. A court order will only be granted if you have admitted you are liable to pay the amount or it is finally determined by a court, a tribunal or by arbitration that the amount is due. The court has a wide discretion in granting such an order and it will take into account all the circumstances of the case.
© 2026 Leasehold Advisory Service, Registered in England No: 3296985.
Good Estate Management and Administration charges: referring to Leasehold Advisory Service, Registered in England No: 3296985.
Checking what your lease says about administration charges
Your lease will say when your landlord can charge administration charges, and how they’re set.
It might be a fixed charge, where the amount is specified in the lease or set by a formula specified in the lease. Or it might vary depending on the cost.
Your lease will also say whether you need to get consent from your landlord for things such as alterations, renting out your property, or asking for a special consent or having a pet. If you need consent then your landlord may be able to charge a reasonable administration charge - a reasonable administration charge is regarded to be between 40.00 and 165.00 per consent or request.
Your landlord may be able to charge a reasonable amount to cover their costs in transferring your lease if you sell your property (lease assignment), even if this is not mentioned in the lease.
Lease Schedule 3, paragraph 4 — “Services and Service Costs”, specifically the definition of “Service Costs” in clause 1.1.
This wording appears under the lease's definitions:
Service Costs: the total of:
(a) all of the costs reasonably and properly estimated by the Landlord to be incurred in providing the Services and complying with all laws relating to the Retained Parts;
(b)“the reasonably and properly incurred costs fees and disbursements of any managing agent or other person retained by the Landlord to act on the Landlords behalf in connection with the Building or the provision of the Services”;
(c) other specified Building/Common Parts outgoings.
Then Schedule 3, paragraph 4.1 says:
“Subject to the Tenant paying the Service Charge, to provide the Services.”
The lease expressly refers to:
“the management of the Building and the welfare of its occupants”
in paragraph 26 of the Regulations.
It also expressly provides for “reasonably and properly incurred costs” of a managing agent or other person acting on the Landlord's behalf “in connection with the Building or the provision of the Services.”
If you’re not sure whether you need to pay an administration charge, check the wording of your lease.
Leases can be complex and it’s not always clear what the wording means. Get advice if you need it from a solicitor who specialises in this area of the law.
Reasonable charges
There is no simple definition of what “reasonable” means, but it depends on things like:
whether any of your landlord’s actions that led to legal costs were appropriate in the circumstances
whether the cost is justified in terms of the amount of work needed to provide the service
Tribunals often consider fees between £40 and £165 to be reasonable for standard consents. A significantly higher charge may be seen as unreasonable unless complex legal work was needed.
You have the right to challenge an administration charge if you do not think it is reasonable.
If you receive an administration charge:
Summary of rights and obligations
Summary of rights and obligations – England
“Administration Charges – Summary of tenants’ rights and obligations”; and
1. An administration charge is an amount which may be payable by you as part of or in addition to the [Service Charge} rent directly or indirectly—
for or in connection with the grant of an approval under your lease, or an application for such approval;
for or in connection with the provision of information or documents;
in respect of your failure to make any payment due under your lease; or
in connection with a breach of a covenant or condition of your lease.
If you are liable to pay an administration charge, it is payable only to the extent that the amount is reasonable.
3. Any provision contained in a grant of a lease under the right to buy under the Housing Act 1985, which claims to allow the landlord to charge a sum for consent or approval, is void.
4. You have the right to ask the First-tier Tribunal whether an administration charge is payable. You may make a request before or after you have paid the administration charge. If the tribunal determines the charge is payable, the tribunal may also determine—
who should pay the administration charge and who it should be paid to;
the amount;
the date it should be paid by; and
how it should be paid.
However, you do not have this right where—
a matter has been agreed to or admitted by you;
a matter has been, or is to be, referred to arbitration or has been determined by arbitration and you agreed to go to arbitration after the disagreement about the administration charge arose; or
a matter has been decided by a court.
5. You have the right to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order varying the lease on the grounds that any administration charge specified in the lease, or any formula specified in the lease for calculating an administration charge is unreasonable.
6. Where you seek a determination or order from the First-tier Tribunal, you will have to pay an application fee and, where the matter proceeds to an oral hearing, a hearing fee, unless you qualify for fee remission or exemption. Making such an application may incur additional costs, such as professional fees, which you may have to pay.
7. The First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal (in determining an appeal against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal) have the power to award costs in accordance with Section 29 of the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.
8. Your lease may give your landlord a right of re-entry or forfeiture where you have failed to pay charges which are properly due under the lease. However, to exercise this right, the landlord must meet all the legal requirements and obtain a court order. A court order will only be granted if you have admitted you are liable to pay the amount or it is finally determined by a court, a tribunal or by arbitration that the amount is due. The court has a wide discretion in granting such an order and it will take into account all the circumstances of the case.
© 2026 Leasehold Advisory Service, Registered in England No: 3296985.
………………………………………………………………………….
Defining Estate management and administration
Our lease supports the proposition that management time spent responding to leaseholder non-compliance, communicating about the breach, seeking explanations, and attempting to resolve the matter can form part of the management of the Building.
There are two routes in our lease.
1. General Building management
Our Service Costs include costs reasonably and properly incurred in providing the Services and in connection with the Building.
More importantly, the Services aren't limited to physical maintenance such as gardening and cleaning. They include the wider provision of services or amenities that the Landlord reasonably decides to provide in accordance with the principles of good estate management for the benefit of tenants and occupiers. That is to say we as Landlords are responsive and attend matters raised by leaseholders with congruence and professionalism.
Addressing Leaseholder contentions and requests
It is for all leaseholders to have read the lease and understood it’s entire contents. Leases are often complex by nature and require full explanation by your own qualified legal advisor or solicitor. For example, if a leaseholder raises an idea, request or even a non-compliance issue with us, we have to engage in professional management activity covered by our role. We are not required to explain the legal content of the lease. Our role allows us to recover only our reasonable fees and attend a quantitative response sequence which requires:
A review of the lease and the alleged issue, request, compliance or breach;
correspond with the leaseholder in a timely manner within 5-7 days;
request information or clarification;
consider what action is appropriate;
explain the position and that we are being fair minded in making decisions in the interests of all leaseholders;
communicate with other affected residents where necessary;
consult our or other party’s solicitor;
consider the appropriate resolution;
document what has happened; and
monitor whether the matter has been resolved,
Above is a fair and reasonable management activity concerning the Building and its occupants. It does not include or outline personal litigation expenses.
2. If it becomes enforcement of a particular covenant
This is where Schedule 4 paragraph 7.1 of the Lease becomes relevant.
It expressly allows the Landlord to recover from the sole Tenant the costs and expenses incurred “in connection with or in contemplation of” the enforcement of any of the Tenant Covenants, including professional fees.
The professional progression at work once enforcement is required:
Initial management / aiming for resolution
“We have identified a potential non-compliance. Let's understand it, communicate with the leaseholder and try to resolve it.”
That can potentially be part of Building management/service expenditure, provided it genuinely falls within the lease's Service Costs and is reasonably and properly incurred.
The type of expenditure still needs to be reasonably and properly incurred and fall within the Service Costs/Services provisions. And where expenditure is specifically attributable to enforcement against one particular leaseholder, Schedule 4 paragraph 7.1 gives a much clearer indication of that route to recover it directly from that leaseholder.
Summarising
Management of the Building is not limited to solely physical maintenance such as cleaning and general works. It necessarily includes dealing with leaseholder requests, compliance, responding to non-compliance, communicating with leaseholders, seeking clarification, attempting to resolve issues and, where appropriate, obtaining professional advice.
These activities form part of the practical management of the Building and its occupants. Where costs become specifically attributable to the enforcement of an individual Tenant's covenants, the lease also provides mechanisms for those costs to be recovered directly from the relevant Tenant.