What does my lease actually let the freeholder charge me for?

• A service charge is your share of the cost of services, repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance and the landlord's management costs.
• Generally, the landlord can only recover costs that the lease allows.
• Costs count only to the extent they were reasonably incurred, and only if the work or service is of a reasonable standard.
• If you pay in advance, the amount must be reasonable, and it must be adjusted once the real costs are known.
• The landlord must hold service charge money on trust for the leaseholders.

How to check your own lease

1. Find the section listing the landlord's obligations. It is often in a schedule at the back.
2. Find the section saying what the leaseholder must pay for and what share.
3. Compare each line of your service charge demand against those two lists.