Leaseholder asks for a summary of service charge costs: the deadline on five requests worked

A leaseholder writes to the managing agent: "Please send me a summary of the service charge costs for last year." The agent has a pile of invoices and an accounts deadline. How long is there to reply, and who has to sign the answer?

What the source says

The current section 21 page on legislation.gov.uk is about a power to make regulations on service charge information, and its editorial note says that power has not been used. The note also says the earlier section 21, "Request for summary of relevant costs", remains in force. I read that earlier text, in its 17 December 1996 version. The points that matter to an agent:

• Who asks. A tenant, in writing. A recognised tenants' association can ask for a tenant, with the tenant's consent (subsection 2).
• Which period. The most recent accounting period of twelve months, or, if accounts are not made up in twelve-month periods, the twelve months ending on the day of the request (subsection 1).
• Who can receive it. A request is validly served if it goes to the agent named in the rent book or similar document, or to the person who receives the rent for the landlord. That person must pass it on promptly (subsection 3).
• The deadline. One month from the request, or six months after the end of the period, whichever is later (subsection 4).
• The contents. The summary must show how costs feed into the demands. It must separate costs with no demand, costs demanded but unpaid, costs demanded and paid, and the credit balances held for the relevant dwellings. It must also say whether any costs relate to certain grant-funded or group repair scheme works (subsections 5, 5A and 5B).
• Certification. If the service charges are payable by tenants of more than four dwellings, a qualified accountant must certify the summary as fair and as sufficiently supported by the accounts and documents (subsection 6).

Five requests, worked

An invented service charge year ending 31 December 2025. Six months after the end of the period is 30 June 2026. The requests are invented.

Checks on the day counts. From 10 January to 30 June 2026: 181 (30 June is day 181 of a year with 365 days) minus 10 = 171. From 15 May (day 135) to 30 June: 181 minus 135 = 46. From 2 June to 2 July is 30 days because June has 30 days. From 20 August to 20 September is 31 days because August has 31. From 12 November to 12 December is 30 days because November has 30.

Total: 171 + 46 + 30 + 31 + 30 = 308 days. Two of the five requests (the January and May ones) are governed by the six-month date; three by the one-month rule. A request made early in the year gives the agent until the middle of the following year, which is why a diary of the six-month date is worth keeping.

Which blocks need an accountant's certificate

Subsection 6 turns on the number of dwellings. Five invented blocks:

Three of five need certification (5, 12 and 40 flats). Block B, at exactly four, does not, because the test is more than four.

What goes wrong

• Treating the request as a general letter and replying with a copy of the accounts. The summary has set headings, including unpaid and paid demands and credit balances.
• Forgetting the certificate on a block of five or more flats.
• Sitting on a request that reached the person who collects the rent, not the agent. The source says that person must pass it on promptly.
• Not noting the date, then missing the later of the two deadlines.

For the neighbouring right to look at the invoices, see the section 22 request reply template. For when the accounts themselves should be ready, see the service charge accounts calendar and whether service charge accounts need to be audited.

What I did not read

I did not read the current text of section 25 or any other penalty for failing to comply, and I did not read case law on what makes a summary adequate. I did not read the version history between 1996 and today beyond the editorial note, so a later amendment to the 1996 wording is possible. I did not read a particular lease. The year end, the requests and the blocks are invented examples.

Overlyft builds AI staff who join your block management team and log each incoming request with its date, work out both deadlines, and draft the summary headings from the ledger. A property manager checks and approves the draft before it goes to the leaseholder.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the legislation and take advice on a particular request or lease.