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QUESTION    The flat I own shares its freehold with three other flat owners in the Victorian house. I recently undertook some very necessary communal repairs to stop my flat from being affected by damp. The other owners knew of the damp problems and the need for repair; they also knew that I was looking to find a builder. I eventually found one and authorised them to do the repairs without discussion with the other owners, who were away or who did not want to make a decision before going away – although

If a landlord wishes to carry out work to a building which exceeds the applicable limit (currently £250 per property), then the contributions will be capped at that limit. That is unless the landlord has either complied with statutory consultation requirements or can demonstrate that the consultation requirements have been dispensed with by the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). However, this becomes complicated when there is a freeholder (the superior landlord) and a head lessee (the immediate lan

Arising out of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and later statutory instrument, are limitations on service charge recoverability relating to both qualifying works and services under the 1985 Act and, in particular, provides expenditure thresholds that trigger consultation procedures. The current thresholds for triggering a landlord’s liability to consult leaseholders are set at £100 per leaseholder per year for qualifying long term agreements and £250 per leaseholder per year for qualifying works. In

It is a well-established principle that parties in litigation have a right to set off claims against each other. For example, if a defendant owes a claimant £300, but the claimant owes the defendant £100, then the claimant will only be able to recover £200 from the defendant. The sums are ‘set-off’. In a property management context, if a landlord has failed to comply with its obligations to repair, a leaseholder may wish to set off any damage against the service charge he owes. Whilst useful for lea

There are many different steps that can be taken to prevent service charge issues from arising. If issues do arise then there’s still a lot that can be done to nip them in the bud. Making a claim or defending a claim in the County Court or the Property Tribunal does not have to be the inevitable when instructing lawyers. There are rarely any true winners when cases disputing service charge end up at a contested hearing. Here’s what we think you should expect: Verified data None receipt of demands

How much can landlords charge for consent fees and will they get away with it? The question was recently looked at by the High Court in relation to a large Docklands development. The tenant was selling off several of its 42 flats, which were held on 999 year leases. Under the terms of the lease, the tenant was required to obtain the consent of the landlord (which was not to be unreasonably withheld). As a condition of the consent, the landlord required payment of all the arrears plus an administration f

It is one of the sector’s favoured clichés that leaseholders need greater education. Although the rest of the world seems to find owning a flat relatively simple, leaseholders in England and Wales are unique in not quite understanding what it is that they own. So the sector is all for a bit of education to put them straight: that they are tenants, not real homeowners, and that they need to pay their bills on time and without argument. But the sector is a good deal less enthusiastic about the advance

I recently had the pleasure of speaking at the Negotiator Conference on the subject on the changes in the housing market which prompted an interesting reaction. Asking how many of the estate agents were aware of the Information for Leaseholders sheet which should be given to all prospective buyers there was not a hand in the room which went up. Not one of the attendees was distributing the document. For the leasehold market to deliver fairness and evenness for all will require the buyers to know what th

Over the years we’ve told you what we do and know you’re aware we maintain gates, barriers, roller shutters, entry systems, automatic doors, indeed all manner of access control. But we’ve never told you about some of the amusing incidents that have occurred during our maintenance visits. Of course, possibly the most enjoyable anecdotes to relate would be rather too lascivious to feature in this magazine, so we’ll keep it clean for 2016. Security in large public spaces increasingly relies on CCTV and w

As 2016 comes to a close, the case law developments from the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) continued at a brisk pace throughout the year. The highlighted decisions below will, no doubt, continue to be cited by legal practitioners, landlords, leaseholders and other interested parties for some time. 23 Dollis Avenue (1998) Ltd v (1) Vejdani (2) Echraghi [2016] UKUT 365 (LC): The Upper Tribunal considered the meaning of s.20 LTA 1985 where a landlord had failed to comply with the consultation requiremen

The RICS and Macdonald & Company Rewards and Attitudes Survey 2017 is now live. Again we have partnered with News on the Block and the IRPM to gather metrics that are specific to residential block management. Last year was the sectors first inclusion in the survey and we had a great response and we hope to do even better this year. Last year’s metrics were very London-centric and this was due to low responses in other regions. If you are in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and you want to have a greater unde

QUESTION    ll the lessees of a conversion have the Freehold and Right to Manage of a block of 6 small flats in an old Tudor style building, and one of the tenants has installed a TV sky satellite dish on the front wall of the building without permission.  It is very unsightly and in mid-August we wrote to him nicely explaining that he was in breach of his lease and requested that he remove the dish by  the end of September.  That deadline passed without any communication or action, the dish remained in p