Section 20 calculator.
In short
Section 20 consultation is needed when the works would cost any one leaseholder more than £250, or a contract of more than 12 months would cost any one leaseholder more than £100 in a year. The test is on the largest single share, not the average: a £3,000 job split equally between 10 flats is £300 each and needs consultation.
The calculator
Runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere. A guide to the test in regulations 4 and 6 of SI 2003/1987, not legal advice.
What counts towards the £250?
The whole cost the leaseholders will pay through the service charge for those works, including VAT and any surveyor's or project management fees charged with them. Splitting one job into smaller pieces to stay under the limit is risky: a tribunal can treat them as one set of works.
Is the £250 per flat or for the whole building?
Per leaseholder. The test is whether any one leaseholder's contribution would be more than £250, so the flat with the largest share decides it. A building where shares differ can need consultation even when the average share is under £250.
What happens if we do not consult?
Recovery is capped at £250 per leaseholder for the works, or £100 a year for an agreement, however much the work cost, unless the landlord obtains dispensation from the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) under section 20ZA.
What if the cost is close to the limit?
Quotes move and extra work turns up. If the largest share could plausibly go over £250 once the job is under way, consulting from the start is far cheaper than finding out afterwards that only £250 a flat can be recovered.
Where Servanda comes in
Servanda runs the threshold test for every job raised and, when consultation is needed, the whole consultation: each notice, every 30 day deadline worst first, the register of who was served, observations and nominations with their responses, and the estimates with the statutory checks.
Try it free for 30 days, no card · How it works for boardsThe law
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 20
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 20ZA
- Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003
The legislation is the authority; this tool is a plain guide for England, checked on 2026-11-02. Wales and Scotland have their own rules. Take advice on any particular building.