We have asked our managing agent to see the invoices behind our service charge and been refused. Do leaseholders have a right to inspect the paperwork?
Often yes, but through a defined statutory procedure rather than an open right of access. Section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 allows a leaseholder, or the secretary of a recognised tenants' association, to request a written summary of relevant costs for an accounting period. Section 22 then allows a further written request to inspect the accounts, receipts and supporting documents behind that summary, and to take copies. Requests should be in writing and dated. Genuine personal data can be redacted, but data protection is not a proper reason to refuse financial inspection outright.
Leaseholders do not have an unrestricted right to walk in and read every document at any time. What they have is a statutory sequence, and it works well when it is followed properly.
Under section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, a tenant, or the secretary of a recognised tenants' association, may make a written request to the landlord for a written summary of the relevant costs for the relevant accounting period. The summary must set out the costs incurred and be presented in the form the section requires.
Under section 22, once that summary has been obtained, the tenant may make a further written request to inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting the summary, and to take copies or extracts. The landlord must make the facilities available, and there are statutory timescales for doing so.
The requests should be in writing, addressed to the landlord or to the agent where the Act allows, and should identify the accounting period. Keeping a dated copy matters, because the timescales run from the request.
Some leases contain their own inspection or information provisions, and a recognised tenants' association has additional rights. Where a management agreement or a professional code applies, agents are generally expected to deal with reasonable requests for information constructively rather than defensively, even outside the statutory procedure.
Supporting documents occasionally contain personal data, for example a resident's name in a repair record or an employee's details on a payroll schedule. Redacting that material where genuinely necessary is proper. What is not proper is refusing an entire inspection by pointing at data protection in general terms. Invoices from contractors, quotations, insurance documents and bank statements relating to the service charge are financial records of the building, and blanket refusal is very hard to justify.
Leasehold information rights have been the subject of reform, and provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 affect this area. Some reform provisions require commencement regulations before they take effect. Before relying on a new right, check whether the relevant provision has actually commenced; equally, do not assume the older sections have gone. If in doubt, make the request under the sections currently in force and say so.
Most inspection disputes are avoidable. An agent who publishes the annual accounts with a clear expenditure breakdown, and who answers a specific question about a specific invoice, rarely receives a formal section 21 request at all. Where trust has broken down, the statutory route exists precisely so the question can be resolved without argument about goodwill. Our service charge management approach is to answer the underlying question first and treat the statutory procedure as the backstop.
Good invoice records are a management issue as much as a legal one, and are part of how we run management for RTM companies.
The statutory route is a backstop. Most inspection requests arise because ordinary reporting was unclear, and better accounts prevent them.
Making the request verbally
The statutory timescales run from a written request, so a phone call leaves the leaseholder with nothing to enforce.
Refusing everything on data protection grounds
A blanket refusal is difficult to defend and usually escalates a resolvable question into a formal complaint.
Asking to see "everything"
Unfocused requests are slow to satisfy and obscure the real question. Identify the period and the costs in issue.
Assuming reform provisions are already in force
Some changes require commencement regulations. Relying on an uncommenced provision weakens an otherwise good request.
Most questions on this topic are management questions rather than legal ones, and the two are worth separating. A managing agent can tell you how something works day to day and what it will cost. A solicitor tells you what your rights are and how a Tribunal is likely to view them.
East Valley Properties provides management expertise, not legal advice. Where a matter turns on the wording of your lease or on formal proceedings, we will say so and work alongside your solicitor.
The official material behind this guide. We summarise it in plain English rather than reproducing it.
Right to a written summary of relevant costs.
Right to inspect accounts, receipts and supporting documents.
Professional expectations for transparency and responding to information requests.
Clear budgets, designated client accounts and year-end accounts leaseholders can actually follow. We can review your current arrangement at no cost.
Answered by Romain Maillard - Director, East Valley Properties
Romain manages residential blocks and estates for RTM companies, residents' management companies, share of freehold developments and freeholders across East London and Essex.
Published
This answer has been anonymised. Personal details, addresses and company names have been removed. Guidance is general and does not replace advice from a solicitor or surveyor on your specific block. East Valley Properties is a managing agent, not a firm of solicitors or legal advisers.
Whether you're an RTM Director, RMC Director, Freeholder or Leaseholder, our experienced block management team is here to help.
If your question could help other property owners, we may publish an anonymised version of the answer in our Knowledge Centre.
Book a free consultation with East Valley Properties to discuss your building, service charges, compliance or managing agent requirements.