| End Service Charge Abuse: A Call to Action Parliamentary Petition Scheme to Compel Disputed Service Charges to be Payable to Courts, Not Landlords |
 Sign the Petition New Parliamentary Petition Launched We are calling on all members to support an important proposal which will help significantly improve access to justice for those who wish to challenge extortionate and/or inaccurate service charges. Similar to the Rent Deposit Scheme (RDS), it would allow tenants and residents to deposit the disputed amount with the court. If the landlord can evidence the legitimacy of the charge within a specified timeframe, the monies would be passed to them. If not, it would be refunded to the tenant or resident. We believe that such a scheme would significantly reduce the service charge abuse that is having a devastating impact on tenants or residents up and down the country. Please help us popularise this idea by sharing our Parliamentary petition within your networks.  Research has shown that the RDS has been highly successful, with an estimated 80% of deposit disputes being settled in favour of the tenant, and monies being swiftly returned to them. This is in stark contrast to the current system for challenging service charges through the First Tier Property Tribunal (FTT), which can be expensive and long-winded. Importantly, even when tenants or residents win a claim, although the refund may be ordered by the FTT, it is not enforceable. Only a County Court claim by a tenant/resident would ensure the money is returned. The landlords are not particularly incentivised to act reasonably and indeed they regularly fail to refund the unauthorised amount. A fairer system is essential. Here’s how you can help: – Sign and share the petition amongst family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, your local tenants and residents association and any other networks. Your local Nextdoor platform would be an ideal place to publicise it. – Like and share our petition posts on social media: Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram – Write to your MP and councillors asking them to share the petition amongst their constituents. We often call on them to intervene in service charge disputes. You can inform them that this potential scheme would help to reduce their workload relating to service charge issues. You can find the details of your MP here and your councillors here. – As an extra resource, a template text is available here for use when contacting MPs and councillors, or it can be adapted to suit your situation and be used for sharing in networks. The Parliamentary petition has six months to run. If we reach 10,000 signatures, the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government has to respond in writing. If we reach 100,000 signatures, we get the opportunity for a Parliamentary debate. This will allow MPs to share other problems caused to their constituents by service charge abuse. Thank you in advance for your help. The SHAC Team Find out more about our End Service Charge Abuse campaign here. |