Featured Articles

In Elim Court RTM Co Limited –v- Avon Freeholds Limited [2017] EWCA Civ 89 the Court of Appeal has come to the rescue of an RTM company in respect of “trivial defects” in the process of exercising the right to manage. What is the right to manage? The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (“the Act”) gives long leaseholders of dwellings a statutory right to acquire management responsibilities in place of their Landlord via an RTM company. The main aim of the legislation was to allow tenants to acquire r

What to do when enfranchisement is not taking off? What if half of the long leaseholders wish to participate, but the other half do not. In the case of a block of 90 flats having 45 or even 50 flats ready to participate may not be sufficient, because those participating need to fund the cost of buying the reversions of the non-participating flats, and any development value in the building. The sums involved may be substantial and this can prove a stumbling block.  In the meantime the lease terms get short

Serving notices has always been a tricky business. The emphasis on getting it right is ultimately a balancing act between what ‘black letter’ compliance might demand and that which the reasonable layperson might expect common sense commerciality to dictate. This case is interesting, as it really does seem to push the envelope of how wrong you can get it, but still get it right. That is not to say that it is proposition for the suggestion that all and any faults in a notice can be forgiven, but it does sho

Introduction This commentary considers some practical problems that can arise following the exercise of the right to manage (“the RTM”) because the landlord continues to own elements of the building. The RTM provisions of the Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”) gives leaseholders of flats a statutory, no-fault, right to take-over the management of their building without the expense of buying out the freehold and any superior leasehold interests. Unlike a collective enfranchisement, whe

QUESTION Does democracy tilt the scales of justice? I am writing about the lessee of a flat in a building converted into four flats. The freeholder/lessor is a property management company limited by shares and guarantee (which is also the residents association). She has a share in the company and is a director. This is equally true of the lessees of the other three flats, all are on a par. The accounting was badly muddled over a period of years but has now been sorted by a qualified accountant. It shows t

At some point, all property managers have to deal with Party Wall matters, but not all are as familiar with this area as they could be. In fact, not all surveyors are completely on top of it, but at EK McQuade, we specialise in Party Wall matters. EK McQuade is the product of a merger last year between the Party Wall specialists at McQuade Property Consultancy and the Party Wall side of Earl Kendrick Associates, renowned for our specialist knowledge of property management, particularly in residential bloc

Ten years ago (April 2007) tenancy deposit schemes were first introduced in England and Wales. You need to go a little further back to understand why they were brought in, though. Rewind to June 1998 and the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB) published a damning report based on CAB clients’ experience of getting their deposits back from landlords. NACAB researcher Liz Phelps reported that as many as half of all private tenants who paid a rental deposit “may have experienced their depo

QUESTION Can you provide some information regarding sinking funds?  Can they automatically be instituted by a head lease or must provisions be provided in the sublease?   ANSWER Many thanks for your question. It is common for leases to allow the landlord to collect sums of money from leaseholders to create a sinking fund. This allows sums of money to be built up, which will then be used to cover the costs of irregular and expensive works.  The process avoids the “spikes” that would otherwise occur when th

QUESTION I am an owner in a block of flats with a 900 year lease. All owners are also shareholders in the resident management company. One of the flats in the block is rented out and since the present tenants moved in some months ago we have been plagued with "fumes" in the common parts and entering our apartment during the early hours of the morning. Some residents are suffering from noise from this flat in the same early hours. The weekends are the worst and the effects of the fumes are quite serious. W

You can now view the digital edition of Issue 89 online. This issue features articles such as:  Leasehold could be outlawed after next election  Report warns landlords over new energy regulation rules Getting collective freehold claims right  Clearing up the issues of the leasehold sector  This issue also contains a special Insurance Feature written by independent industry practitioners. To read the digital edition of Issue 89 please click here.

This Insurance feature to the key concepts is written by independent industry practitioners and covers the following articles:  Acquiring the freehold of your building Special knowledge: How blocks of flats differ from other residential policies  Speeding up claims: A new law aims to see claims settled faster Taking away stress: Make sure you have access to a claims manager The reasonableness of premiums: The cost of insurance and the rights of leaseholders  Budget for increases:  Insurance

The average annual salary of employees who work in the leasehold sector rose in the past 12 months to £47,693. But fewer block managers believe they will see an increase in economic activity over the next year when compared to those quizzed in 2016.   The Institute of Residential Property Managers (IRPM), News on the Block and property recruitment agency Macdonald & Company worked together to produce the salary survey.   And while there was an increase in the average salary, this could have been affected