About Peverel would like to aplogise to the original poster, Trevor Bradley and Michael Epstein. Owing to a technical issue (in the spirit of openess and transparency the editor pressed the wrong key) those posts have gone off the site. If those affected could repost About Peverel would be very appreciative.
If not, the basis of the post was a question as to whether service charges could be withheld under Section 21 of the Leasehold & Tenant Act/
Michael responded by saying it could, but the leaseholder would end up in trouble, because Peverel/Firstport would simply appeal to higher courts if they lost to increase the legal fees for the leaseholder. A dispute over an 8,000 pound service charge ended up costing a resident 200,000 pounds and they came close to forfeiting their property.
Michael further suggested making a service charge payment direct to the freeholder with a covering letter staing that the managing agents had breached the terms of the lease. This would ensure no action could be taken against the resident.
Trevor Bradley agreed with Michael and added that the LKP (Leasehold knowledge Partnership ) website was a very good source of information for any leaseholder with concerns about leasehold.
