The facts
4.Oakwood Court is a large three storey Victorian house which was converted in about 1989 to create eight self-contained flats, with two on the ground floor and three on each of the two upper floors. Mr Reekie owns the leases of Flats 1, 2 and 5.5.Flats 1 and 2 are on the ground floor and are accessible by the original front entrance to the building. The remaining flats (numbers 3 to 8) are reached by a side entrance leading to a communal hallway, with a staircase and a lift serving the upper floors. When the building was first sub-divided into flats there was no access to the communal hallway, the staircase or the lift from Flats 1 and 2, except by going out of the building and re-entering through the side door. 6.Each of the eight flats in the building is let on a long lease. The FTT referred to the lease of Flat 5, which is on the first floor. It was granted on 18 September 1991 for a term of 125 years and Mr Reekie acquired it in 2015. The lease was made between the landlord, the leaseholder, and a management company which was responsible for carrying out repairs and providing other services at the leaseholders’ expense. I will refer to the terms of the leases in more detail later.7.At some time before Mr Reekie acquired Flat 5, Flats 1, 2 and 5 were converted to form a single large dwelling occupying most of the ground floor and part of the first floor of the building. A new internal staircase was installed between Flat 1 and Flat 5, allowing the owner to use the three flats as a single unit. Since then, access to Flat 5 on the first floor has been available without using the communal side entrance, the staircase, or the lift.8.Although Flats 1, 2 and 5 were converted for use as a single dwelling they have always been subject to separate leases which were granted at different times, and no new lease of the combined unit has ever been granted. Mr and Mrs Reekie purchased Flats 1, 2 and 5 together and they have lived in the combined unit ever since. 9.Mr Reekie informed the FTT that although there is still a door allowing access to Flat 5 from the first-floor landing, it is not in use and is kept locked. Neither he nor his wife have ever had cause to use the lift.10.The original lift serving Flats 3 to 8 was installed in about 1989 and on 19 November 2019 OCRA asked the leaseholders to pay £3,870.00 towards the cost of its refurbishment. That figure represented one sixth of the estimated cost of the work. Mr Reekie was not asked to make a contribution in respect of the two ground floor flats, but only for Flat 5. 11.Mr Reekie refused to pay his contribution. As a result the proposed works were not carried out and the contributions of the other leaseholders have been held in reserve while OCRA pursued a County Court money claim against Mr Reekie. The question whether any service charge was payable was transferred to the FTT and a single concurrent hearing was held at which the Judge sat both as a Judge of the FTT and as a Judge of the County Court to determine all issues at a single hearing.