Administration charge

Examples include a fee for registering a sale or a sub-letting, a fee for answering a buyer's solicitor's questions, interest on late payment, and the cost of chasing a breach of the lease.

The rules

• The lease must allow it. If the lease doesn't provide for a charge, you can't make it.
• It must be reasonable if it isn't a fixed amount in the lease (Sch 11 para 2).
• The demand needs its own summary of rights: the administration-charge version, not the service-charge one (Sch 11 para 4).
• Leaseholders can challenge it at the First-tier TribunalFirst-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)The tribunal in England that decides most leasehold disputes, including right to manage claims, whether service charges are payable or reasonable, and applications for dispensation from Section 20 consultation. (para 5).

Good practice

Publish your fees (for example for sale packs and registering notices) so leaseholders and conveyancers know them in advance. Changes to the law under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will require published schedules of administration charges once in force.