Is A Tenant Obliged To Pay For All Reasonable Service Charge Expenditure Incurred By The Landlord?

Not unless the lease creates that obligation.

In some instances the lease does not oblige the tenant to pay a contribution towards all of the costs of the work the landlord is obliged to carry out. In the case of Riverlate Properties Limited v Paul [1975] Ch 133, CA the court held that where the lease obliged the tenant to pay for the landlord’s reasonable costs incurred under its obligations in clauses 6(b) to (d) of the lease the tenant did not have to pay for the costs incurred by the landlord under clause 6(a) as the lease did not include an express obligation for the tenant in relation to 6(a).

Recommendation

Tenants and landlords should carefully read the lease to fully understand their rights and obligations. Leases can contain anomalies and parties to a lease cannot assume the lease will be effective in recovering all of the costs a landlord may be obliged to incur. If in doubt seek specialist legal advice.