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<p>The Government believes very strongly that fees, such as service charges, should
be transparent and communicated effectively, and that there should be a clear route
to challenge or redress if things go wrong.</p><p>The law is clear that service charges
must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, these must be of a
reasonable standard. Leaseholders may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal
to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges.</p><p>The
Government believes Permission fees and administration charges should only be used
where necessary and should only cover any reasonable costs incurred.</p><p>The Government
established an independent working group chaired by Lord Best to raise standards across
the property sector, which also considered how fees such as service charges should
be presented to consumers and the circumstances under which permission fees and administration
charges could be justified, and whether they should be capped or banned. The working
group has published its final report to Government and suggested that Government should
consider introducing a prescribed list of acceptable fees. We are considering the
report’s recommendations carefully and will announce next steps in due course.</p>
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