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Yashmin Mistry

Yashmin Mistry

JPC | Managing Partner

Biography

Yashmin Mistry is a Partner and leads JPC Law’s Property Practice Group. Yashmin is a leading expert in leasehold enfranchisement and landlord & tenant matters and is widely acknowledged as a thought leader in her field. She is influential not only as a practitioner and commentator, but increasingly as someone asked to play an active role in shaping how the law works. Yashmin is a “Recognised Expert” in the prestigious Legal 500 guide as well as receiving recognition in the 2014 to 2018 “Top 100 Most Influential People in the Residential Sector” property guide.

Q&A - Roof Repairs

QUESTION We are a small shared-freehold company, registered with Companies House as a residential community. There are four leaseholders, each of which has a share of the freehold. We don't use an outside management company but are running it ourselves. When one of the flats was sold in 2010, the buyer's solicitor told his client that he would not need to pay any roof repair bills. This was based on a poorly worded clause in a Draft Lease made in 1987, later adopted without being revised and re-typed. The

What to do when the building does not comply for enfranchisement or RTM? An alternative option..

Yashmin Mistry, Partner at JPC Law highlights an area of law of interest to tenants when they are fed up with poor management and the building does not comply with the criteria required to purchase the freehold or exercise the right to manage – The Right to Appoint a Manager and/or Receiver. A common complaint of tenants is that their property has been badly managed and/or the landlord is collecting excessive amounts of service/administration charges. To deal with these problems, the First Tier Tribuna

Q&A - Lease Extension

QUESTION I recently found out that I only have 46 years remaining on my lease in my one bed flat and it will cost me £60k to extend the lease to 100 years. I cannot sell the property without the full lease in case someone needs to take out a mortgage on it. I was wondering if there is a way to fund this in order for me to sell the property. My credit is not very good therefore I am unable to remortgage or obtain a secured loan. I have 2 children, therefore need to sell and move into a bigger place as soo

Terrorism, Insurance & Service Charges

Generally, standard property insurance cover on a block of flats does not automatically include damage caused by terrorism although in most cases, the cost to add terrorism insurance to a policy can be relatively low depending on the location of the block. Terrorism insurance has become an increasingly contentious issue in service charge cases; in short, many leaseholders think it is unnecessary and simply serves to increase their service charges, but is that what the Tribunal’s think? CASE LAW On the 16

The complexities of Tax clearance unravelled

A common misconception when people purchase their freeholds is they believe it to be the end of the story. This is often not the case and steps should be taken to protect the position. Why do you need new leases if you have bought your freehold? Although you may own the freehold of your building, the original leases remain in place. They cannot be “cancelled” as they regulate the legal relationship between the flat owners and the freehold company. Taxation Issues The usual position when purchasing the fre

Q&A - Lease Extension

QUESTION I am the chairman of an Independent Leaseholders Association (10,000 RTB members) We have held regular monthly meetings for approximately the last eight years. My RTB (flat) lease dates from 1992. Since I do not wish to pass on a problematic legacy to my family on my demise, I have recently been negotiating with the council to purchase a 99 year extension to the existing lease. I was recently sent a draft of the proposed extension stating that the extension is granted under S 56 of the 1993 Act.

Liability of Service Charge when a flat is sold?

If you ask a thousand landlords what happens to service charges when a property is sold, odds are the majority believe arrears will pass to the new buyer. This is not necessarily the case. The case needs to be considered for: Old tenancies (those granted before 1 January 1996); and New tenancies (granted on or after 1 January 1996) OLD TENANCIES: Prior to the assignment, the assignee (incoming tenant) has neither privity of estate nor privity of contract with the Landlord. There is no rea

LICENCE FOR ALTERATIONS – THE WHY’S AND WHAT’S?

WHAT IS LICENCE? Under most residential leases a tenant is required to obtain consent from the landlord and/or the management company before making any alterations to his/her property. It's a simple process which is also known as “An Application for a Licence for Alterations”. Whether or not consent (a licence to alter) is required will be determined by (i) the scope of works and (ii) what the lease says. In most leases, the landlord will place a restriction on the extent of alteration, extension or oth

Q&A - Electricity Costs

QUESTION The block of flats in which I live consists of 32 flats, (31 leasehold and 1 manager). You will no doubt know that leaseholders share the cost of communal electricity. We currently are in dispute with management regarding a considerable sum of money owed due to underpayment for several years. Our budget forecast for financial year 2016/17 is £9,587.00 which is a considerable more than the 10 years up to 2013 when average annual cost was around £3,400.00. As the landlord has complete control ove

Obtaining management information

Landlords are obliged to provide certain information to leaseholders upon request. As most readers will know, service charge and ground rent demands must also contain specific information. Additionally, there is a prescribed summary of rights and obligations which must accompany demands for both service charges and administration charges. The vast majority of leases will provide very few, if any, rights to information about the landlord or management parties to the lease. The statutory rights entitl

Q&A - Section 20

QUESTION I live in a block of 28 retirement flats which are all owner occupied and of course leasehold. In addition we are all shareholders in the Housing Association which owns the building and land on a leasehold basis and whose sole business is the ownership of this building. We appoint a Managing Agent (also a housing association) to manage the building. I assume, even under our own unusual ownership structure, that section 20 applies even though the Landlord (us collectively) is giving us (individua

Stay on side with equalities act

The equalities act 2010 makes it unlawful for any person or company managing or owning premises to discriminate against a disabled person occupying those premises. Once a written request is made, the landlord/manager is under a duty to take reasonable steps to address the matter. Arguably there are three main types of adjustments that apply to residential premises: (1) Auxiliary aids and services, ie the replacement of taps, door handles etc; (2) Policies, procedures and practices; (3) Changes to a lease

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