In Schedule 11 to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (administration charges), after paragraph 5 insert—

“Limitation of administration charges: costs of proceedings

5A

(1)

A tenant of a dwelling in England may apply to the relevant court or tribunal for an order reducing or extinguishing the tenant's liability to pay a particular administration charge in respect of litigation costs.

(2)

The relevant court or tribunal may make whatever order on the application it considers to be just and equitable.

(3)

In this paragraph—

(a)

“litigation costs” means costs incurred, or to be incurred, by the landlord in connection with proceedings of a kind mentioned in the table, and

(b)

“the relevant court or tribunal” means the court or tribunal mentioned in the table in relation to those proceedings.

Proceedings to which costs relate	“The relevant court or tribunal”
Court proceedings	The court before which the proceedings are taking place or, if the application is made after the proceedings are concluded, the county court
First-tier Tribunal proceedings	The First-tier Tribunal
Upper Tribunal proceedings	The Upper Tribunal
Arbitration proceedings	The arbitral tribunal or, if the application is made after the proceedings are concluded, the county court.”