You have been asked for a large one-off payment
The ordinary service charge covers the running of the building. A one-off demand is something else — a roof, the lifts, the windows — and it usually arrives with far less explanation than its size deserves.
Three documents should already exist
The specification — what is actually being done, in enough detail that two contractors could price the same job.
The estimates — what it was priced at, by whom.
The apportionment — how the total was divided between flats. That comes from your lease, not from anyone's preference.
If you have a demand and none of the three, that is the gap to close first. A figure without a specification cannot be checked by anyone.
One thing worth knowing before you ask
In England and Wales, the law requires a landlord to consult leaseholders before recovering more than a set amount for works. That requirement exists whether or not anyone mentions it to you.
Leaseholders also have statutory rights to see the invoices behind a service charge, and to have its reasonableness decided independently. This page does not set out how to use either.
What to look at
Whether the work is a repair or an improvement. Leases differ on what can be recovered for each, and yours governs.
Whether any of it should come from the reserve. If you have been paying into a sinking fund for years, a one-off demand for the thing that fund was for is worth a question.
Whether the management fee rises with the works. A percentage fee on a large project is a large fee.
Whether the timetable and the payment dates match. Money collected long before work begins is money you funded.
For the ordinary charge and what each document is for, see what is in your service charge. If the ongoing charge rose in the same period, that is worth reading separately.
What this means if you stop paying
Do not stop paying while you query a charge.
Questioning whether a charge is fair and withholding payment are two different things. Under a lease, arrears can put your home at risk, and the sums involved do not have to be large. Keep paying, and put your questions in writing.
Where Synclair comes in
Synclair separates the one-off from the ongoing charge, shows how the ordinary charge moved in the same period, and sets both against published figures rather than against a feeling.
One document is enough to start. It is free for three months, and the three months begin when your first analysis is ready — not when you sign up.
Check your own statement →