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Section 20 calculator: was consultation required for your major works?

Enter the cost and your share to see if the £250 limit (or £100 a year for long-term contracts) was crossed, and what your bill could be capped at if the landlord didn't consult. It runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.

England and Wales · Law checked 24 October 2026 · Not legal advice

This calculator gives general pointers, not legal advice. It can't see your lease or your landlord's documents. Free advice: LEASE.

How the section 20 rules work

Under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the consultation regulations, a landlord must consult leaseholders before:

Qualifying works, if any one leaseholder's contribution to a set of works will be more than £250 (reg 6, SI 2003/1987).
Qualifying long-term agreements: contracts for a term of more than 12 months (s.20ZA(2)), if any leaseholder's contribution will be more than £100 in an accounting period (reg 4).

"More than" matters: a share of exactly £250 (or exactly £100 a year) doesn't trigger consultation. If consultation was required but didn't happen, and the tribunal hasn't granted dispensation, each leaseholder's contribution is limited to £250 for the works, or £100 a year for the contract (s.20(1) and (7)).

What the calculator does

Works out your share from the total and your percentage or fraction (rounded to the nearest penny), or uses the amount you enter.
Compares it with £250 (works) or £100 a year (contracts over 12 months).
If you're over the limit and there was no consultation, it shows the possible cap and the difference.

It can't tell whether several jobs count as one "set" of works, whether the notices were valid, or whether the tribunal would grant dispensation. Those need the documents. The cap only ever reduces a share that is over the limit: if yours is £250 or less, it can't lower your bill, even if another flat's bigger share meant consultation was needed.

In Wales

The same £250 and £100 limits apply under the Welsh regulations (SI 2004/684). Disputes and dispensation applications go to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (form LVT5 for dispensation), not the First-tier Tribunal. The Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 will add new rules for building safety works, but the parts that amend section 20 were not yet in force when we checked in October 2026.

Changes on the way (not yet law)

The government has consulted on reforming section 20, including the £250 limit, which hasn't changed in over 20 years. No new limits have been made. Until regulations change them, £250 and £100 still apply. For the wider 2024 Act timetable, see what the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 changes, and when.

Questions

Is the £250 limit per year or per job?

Per set of works. The Court of Appeal in Phillips v Francis [2014] EWCA Civ 1395 rejected adding up all the works in a year. Whether several jobs are one set is a common-sense question: same contract, same time, connected work. Routine smaller jobs are controlled by the reasonableness test in section 19 instead.

Is my share exactly £250 over the limit?

No. Consultation is required only if a leaseholder's contribution is more than £250. Exactly £250 doesn't trigger it, but £250.01 does.

Should I include VAT?

Yes. Use the amount you are, or will be, charged for the works, including VAT.

What if the works were urgent?

Urgency doesn't remove the duty to consult. The landlord can apply to the tribunal for dispensation, before or after the works, and the tribunal will look mainly at whether leaseholders were prejudiced (Daejan v Benson [2013] UKSC 14).

My share is under £250 but a bigger flat pays more. Can I use section 20?

Consultation may still have been required for the building, but the cap only limits each leaseholder to £250. If your share is already £250 or less, the cap doesn't reduce it. You can still challenge the cost as unreasonable under section 19.

Does section 20 apply in Wales?

Yes, with the same £250 and £100 limits under the Welsh regulations. Disputes go to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Wales.