Leaseholder asks to see the invoices: how to answer a section 22 request, with the dates and a reply template

The email arrives on a Friday: every invoice for the last six years, within 30 days, or the leaseholder goes to the tribunal. The statute gives a narrower right than the email claims and a firmer one than many offices assume. A good reply says which right applies, gives the dates, and offers the inspection.

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Section 22 inspection reply maker

Fill in when the request arrived, the year the summary covers and where the file can be seen. The reply gives the two-month inspection window and the date for any personal data request.

Which letterLandlord will open the earlier yearsEarlier years passed to the landlordInspection only Leaseholder's name Date you received the request Year end the summary covers Date the leaseholder received the summaryThe request must come within six months of this date. Where and when the documents can be seen First day the documents are availableNo later than one month after you received the request. The letter adds the two months. Charge for a paper copy, per page Earlier years asked for Date you will reply about earlier years (second version) Your name, your firm and the landlordPriya Nair for Harbour Block Management Ltd, managing agent for Elm Court (Reading) Management Company Ltd

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• Check the request came within six months of the leaseholder obtaining the summary. If no summary exists yet, treat the email as a section 21 request first and say so.
• The first day must be no later than one month after you received the request, and the file stays open for two months from then.
• Whether to offer earlier years is the client's decision. Section 22 reaches only the year the summary covers.
• Before the visit, take out personal data about other leaseholders that the summary does not depend on.
• Log who inspected, on what date, and which copies were taken.

The rule this rests on: Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, sections 21 and 22; UK GDPR Article 15 for the personal data request. A draft to check and adapt, not legal advice.

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Three requests that look alike

A single email often contains all three. Answer each under its own heading, because each has its own deadline and the leaseholder's next letter will hold you to it.

What section 22 covers

Section 22 applies once the leaseholder, or the secretary of a recognised tenants' association, has obtained a summary of the kind section 21 describes, "whether in pursuance of that section or otherwise". A leaseholder who already holds the year's cost summary can go straight to inspection. Where no summary exists yet, treat the email as a section 21 request first and say so. Our guide on whether service charge accounts need an audit covers the accountant's certificate that summary needs in a block of more than four flats.

The request must be in writing and made within six months of obtaining the summary. It reaches the documents supporting that summary, which means one accounting year. Section 21 defines the year as the last twelve-month accounting period ending on or before the date of the request, or the twelve months up to the request where accounts are not made up yearly.

So "six years of invoices" is wider than section 22. The statutory right is to the year the summary covers. That does not put the older years out of reach. In an application under section 27A, the tribunal can direct the parties to exchange lists of relevant documents and allow inspection of them. Whether to offer earlier years voluntarily is a decision for the client.

The dates, worked through

A request is duly served on the landlord if it is served on the landlord's agent named in the rent book or a similar document, or on the person who receives the rent for the landlord. That person must forward it as soon as may be. In practice the clock starts when your office receives it.

Suppose the summary went out on 1 October 2026 and a written request to inspect arrives on 12 October 2026.

1. The request is in time. It came within six months of the summary.
2. Facilities must begin no later than 12 November 2026, one month after the request.
3. They must stay available for two months. Opened on 12 November, that period runs to 11 January 2027. Diarise 12 January and nothing is lost by the extra day.
4. Inspection is free. Copies and extracts may be charged for at a reasonable rate, and the cost of making the facilities available can be treated as a cost of management.

If the summary relates to costs incurred by a superior landlord, section 23 requires you to tell the leaseholder at once, with the superior landlord's name and address. Section 22 then applies to that landlord.

Failing to perform a duty under section 21, 22 or 23 without reasonable excuse is a summary offence under section 25. The fine is up to level 4 on the standard scale, which is £2,500.

How to handle it

1. Date-stamp the request and sort it into the three rights in the table.
2. Check when the summary was obtained and confirm the six-month window.
3. Reply within the week using the template below. An early reply with dates takes most of the heat out.
4. Assemble the year's file: the accounts, the invoices and receipts, the contracts behind recurring costs, and whatever else the accountant was shown.
5. Take out personal data about other leaseholders that the summary does not depend on.
6. Log who inspected, on what date, and which copies were taken.

The reply

Dear [name],

Thank you for your email of [date], which we received on [date].

Inspection of documents. You received the summary of service charge costs for the year ended [date] on [date]. Under section 22 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 you may inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting that summary. They will be available at [address] from [date, within one month of the request] to [date, two months later], on weekdays between [times]. Please give us two working days' notice of a visit. Inspection is free. Paper copies are charged at [rate] a page. If you would rather view the documents in a secure online folder, tell us.

Earlier years. Section 22 applies to the year covered by the summary. [The landlord is willing to make the invoices for [years] available on the same terms. / We have passed your request for earlier years to the landlord and will reply by [date].]

Your personal data. We are treating your request for the information we hold about you as a subject access request and will respond by [date, one month from receipt].

[Name], for [agent], managing agent for [landlord]

What is changing

Sections 21 and 22 are due to be replaced by new information rights under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. On 1 October 2026, legislation.gov.uk still lists those changes as not yet in force, so the rules above are the ones that apply. Our guide to which parts of the 2024 Act are in force tracks commencement, and the service charge year calendar puts the section 21 and 22 windows in the diary from your year end.

This is general information for England, not legal advice.