The Complainant purchased the property she resides in from the Landlord under the Right to Buy. Pursuant to the transfer deed between the Complainant and the Landlord, the Complainant is obliged to pay service charges to the Landlord. The transfer deed provides that the Complainant is to pay two separate types of service charge, an Estate Service Charge and a Terrace Service Charge. The breakdown of charges sent to the Complainant by the Landlord did not break down her service charges payments into these two categories. The Complainant therefore complained to the Housing Ombudsman Service about her Landlord’s failure to provide her with sufficient information about the service charges she pays.

The tenant was an 18-year-old asylum seeker who had been the victim of torture prior to her arrival in the UK.