What happens if I don't pay?

It is your obligation to pay the service charges and ground rent promptly under the terms of the lease. High Peak Borough Council have the following options to recover the debt:

• If you have a mortgage on your property High Peak Borough Council can approach your mortgage and ask them to pay the amount outstanding. Many mortgage companies will do this and add it on to your mortgage because they have an interest in the property.
• High Peak Borough Council may seek a County Court Judgment for payment, which can affect your ability to obtain credit in the future. It may also add the payment of court costs to the debt.
• High Peak Borough Council may put a charge on your property at the Land Registry which will prevent any sale going through without payment of the debt.
• If an application is made to the First-Tier Tribunal and High Peak Borough Council is able to satisfy the Tribunal that service charges are properly due and reasonable, then we can begin forfeiture proceedings by serving a formal notice of breach of the lease on you and giving you a reasonable time to rectify the breach by paying the charges. If you do not comply with this notice High Peak Borough Council can apply to the County Court for forfeiture of the lease. For ground rent the formal notice of breach is not required.

The court has wide discretion where forfeiture is concerned, but if forfeiture is approved by a court, this can lead to High Peak Borough Council repossessing the flat and you being evicted.