Section 20 Consultation Flowchart: Your Step-by-Step Visual Guide

The Section 20 consultation process has three formal stages with minimum notice periods, observation windows, and mandatory responses. Miss any stage and you cannot recover costs above £250 per leaseholder — no matter how necessary the work was.

This guide lays out the full process as a step-by-step flowchart so you can see every stage, every deadline, and every decision point before you start.

For detailed guidance on each stage, see our complete guide to Section 20 consultation. For the underlying legislation, see our guide to Section 20 under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

Before you start: is Section 20 required?

The threshold test:

Does the proposed work cost more than £250 per contributing leaseholder?

• Yes → Section 20 consultation is mandatory. Continue below.
• No → Section 20 is not required. Proceed with the work normally, but good practice is to inform leaseholders anyway.
• Unsure → Err on the side of consulting. The cost of running an unnecessary consultation is a few weeks of delay. The cost of skipping a required consultation is capping your recovery at £250 per leaseholder.

Important: The £250 threshold is per leaseholder, not the total cost. For a block of 12 flats, works costing £3,001 or more trigger Section 20 (because at least one leaseholder's share exceeds £250).

This threshold is set by Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003.

The three-stage process

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Stage 1: Notice of Intention

What you do: Send a written notice to every leaseholder (and any recognised tenants' association) describing:

• The proposed works and why they are necessary
• The reasons you consider the works necessary
• An invitation to nominate contractors
• An invitation to make written observations within the consultation period

Format: The notice must be in writing. Post or hand-deliver to each leaseholder's address (or their last known address if they've moved).

Minimum consultation period: 30 days from the date of the notice.

What leaseholders can do during this period:

• Make written observations about the proposed works
• Nominate a contractor they want you to obtain an estimate from

Your obligation after the 30 days:

• You must have regard to any observations received
• You must obtain an estimate from any nominated contractor (unless it's not reasonable to do so)

Decision point: Did any leaseholder nominate a contractor?

• Yes → You must include their nominated contractor in your estimate process (Stage 2)
• No → Proceed to Stage 2 with your own selected contractors

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Stage 2: Estimates and the Statement of Estimates

What you do:

1. Obtain at least two estimates for the proposed works (one of which may be from a leaseholder-nominated contractor)
2. Prepare a Statement of Estimates summarising the estimates received
3. Send the Statement of Estimates to every leaseholder, including:
   • A summary of each estimate (contractor name, amount, key terms)
   • A summary of any observations received during Stage 1 and your responses to them
   • An invitation to make written observations within the consultation period
   • Where estimates can be inspected (you must make the full estimates available)

Minimum consultation period: 30 days from the date of the Statement of Estimates.

What leaseholders can do during this period:

• Inspect the full estimates (you must provide access — typically at the company secretary's address or a convenient location)
• Make written observations about the estimates

Your obligation after the 30 days:

• You must have regard to any observations received
• If you want to appoint a contractor whose estimate is not the lowest, or who was not nominated by a leaseholder, you must provide written reasons

Decision point: Is the contractor you want to appoint:

• The lowest estimate? → Proceed to Stage 3
• A leaseholder-nominated contractor? → Proceed to Stage 3
• Neither? → You must issue a Stage 3 notice explaining your choice before entering into a contract

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Stage 3: Award Notification (conditional)

When this stage applies: Stage 3 is only required when you want to appoint a contractor who is:

• Not the contractor who submitted the lowest estimate, AND
• Not a contractor nominated by a leaseholder

If your chosen contractor is the lowest bidder or was nominated by a leaseholder, you can skip Stage 3 and proceed to appoint them.

What you do: Send a written notice to every leaseholder within 21 days of entering the contract (or before entering the contract), explaining:

• Which contractor you have appointed
• Why you chose them over the lowest estimate or leaseholder-nominated contractor
• A summary of observations received during Stage 2 and your responses

Important: There is no additional consultation period after Stage 3 — this is a notification, not a consultation. However, the reasons must be genuine. "We preferred them" is not sufficient. "Their estimate included a 10-year warranty on membrane works, which the cheaper estimate did not" is.

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Timeline summary

Here's the minimum timeline for a full Section 20 consultation:

Stage	Action	Minimum Duration
Pre-start	Identify the need for works, obtain initial scoping	Variable
Stage 1	Notice of Intention sent to all leaseholders	30 days consultation
Between stages	Obtain estimates (including any nominated contractors)	2-4 weeks typically
Stage 2	Statement of Estimates sent to all leaseholders	30 days consultation
Between stages	Evaluate estimates, consider observations	1-2 weeks
Stage 3	Award Notification (if required)	21 days
Post-consultation	Appoint contractor, works begin	Variable

Minimum total: approximately 10-14 weeks from the first notice to appointing a contractor. For complex works requiring multiple rounds of estimates, expect 4-6 months.

Use our free Section 20 Timeline Calculator to map out the exact dates for your consultation based on your planned start date.

Common mistakes that void the consultation

These errors mean you cannot recover costs above the £250/leaseholder cap:

1. Sending notices by email only. The regulations require written notice. Email may supplement postal notice but should not replace it unless every leaseholder has explicitly agreed to receive notices electronically.

2. Cutting the 30-day period short. The 30 days runs from the date the notice is received (or deemed received under postal rules), not from when you sent it. Allow an extra 2-3 days for postal delivery.

3. Ignoring observations. You must "have regard to" observations — meaning you must genuinely consider them and be able to demonstrate that you did. You don't have to agree with them, but you must respond.

4. Not obtaining a nominated contractor's estimate. If a leaseholder nominates a contractor, you must include their estimate unless it is genuinely unreasonable to do so (e.g., the contractor doesn't do that type of work, or refuses to quote).

5. Skipping Stage 2 because the work is urgent. Urgency does not exempt you from consultation — though you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for dispensation under Section 20ZA if the situation genuinely cannot wait.

6. Not keeping records. If a leaseholder challenges the consultation at the FTT years later, your evidence is your protection. Keep copies of every notice, every observation received, every response sent, every estimate, and every decision rationale.

Emergency works: dispensation from consultation

If works are genuinely urgent — a burst pipe, a dangerous structural issue, an immediate fire safety risk — you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for dispensation from consultation requirements under Section 20ZA. The tribunal will consider whether it is reasonable to dispense with all or part of the process.

Dispensation is not automatic. The tribunal will look at:

• How urgent the work actually was
• Whether any consultation was possible (even an abbreviated process)
• Whether leaseholders were informed, even informally
• Whether leaseholders will suffer prejudice from the lack of consultation

Apply as soon as possible — ideally before the emergency work begins, but the tribunal can grant dispensation retrospectively.

Print this flowchart

Keep a copy of this process visible when you're running a Section 20 consultation. The most common failures happen because directors lose track of which stage they're in or which deadlines apply.

For a personalised timeline with specific dates for your consultation, use our free Section 20 Timeline Calculator.

LevyBoard is building guided Section 20 compliance workflows — automated notices, deadline tracking, and document management — so volunteer directors never miss a step.

This guide covers the Section 20 consultation process for qualifying works in England. Wales follows the same legislation but may have different tribunal arrangements. This is general guidance, not legal advice — for complex or disputed consultations, consult a solicitor specialising in leasehold law.

Sources

• Section 20, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 — limitation of service charges: consultation requirements
• Section 20ZA, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 — consultation requirements: supplementary
• Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003 — detailed consultation procedures
• First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) — tribunal for dispensation applications and service charge disputes