Featured Articles

It is not uncommon for apartment blocks to be owned by the tenants who live there. What happens when those tenants fall out? This can be tricky where tenants are shareholders (and possibly also directors) of the company that owns the freehold. The most common reason for disputes surrounds repair works, with tenants disagreeing what is and is not in need of repair. These disputes are difficult, as the parties are neighbours, and often present some interesting legal challenges - for example, the rights of

After five months I have now got my feet under the table and I am enjoying the role and challenges of chairing the Leasehold Advisory Service. There have been some interesting communications and issues to address and there have been some unexpected matters. Being stuck in purdah over the election period was interesting and thank goodness it is now over. Of course, now the election is finished the polls were proven to be misleading. That is all academic now and we have to see what the next five years brin

Under the terms of most residential leases a lessee is prohibited from making certain types of alterations unless they first obtain permission from the landlord. This is normally given by way of a document called a licence to alter. The wording of leases varies, so great care needs to be taken if a lessee wants to make alterations. Occasionally leases prohibit any alteration. In those circumstances the landlord must always be asked in advance of any work being done. Other examples where alterations are

For years the interests of the management fee Paying leaseholder has long been forgotten, and the interests of the housebuilders themselves and subsequent freeholders has been the priority for the residential managing agent. Generally there is only one outcome of this for leaseholders: poor service levels and inflated service charges to line the pockets of those who only have a commercial interest in your residential development and your investment. It’s a fact that nobody likes to pay a service charge;

Focusing on the residential element of mixed-use schemes, any ‘challenge’ to the management regime or service charge will be driven from the residential plot lease upwards.  When initial consideration is being given to the development of a communal estate management regime for a building that is multi-let and occupied by differing classes of tenants, the starting point is always the occupational lease. It is the lease that defines which items of expenditure may be recovered from the tenants in the form o

After a recent spurt of rent growth, landlords anticipate that rent rises will taper off over the next 12 months, according to a survey of more than 1,200 landlords by Your Move and Reeds Rains. On average UK landlords anticipate that rents will increase by 1.7% in the coming year, a sharp slowdown from the current rate of annual rent growth to a steadier trajectory. According to the latest Your Move/Reeds Rains Buy-to-Let Index, average residential rents across the UK climbed 3.7% in the year to March 2

Nearly a quarter of UK landlords - approximately 360,000 - came into the market accidentally or unintentionally, according to research by the National Landlords Association. The survey, which asked landlords why they first entered the buy to let market, shows that 11% did so by chance, e.g. through inheriting property; 5% acquired an extra property, e.g. when they met a spouse; 5% intended to sell but experienced difficulties, and 3% had to relocate for work. Central London was found to have the highest

A baby born today faces the prospect of paying £3.4 million for their first property, new statistics from online estate agent eMoov.co.uk reveal. Looking at historic house price data since 1954, there has been an average annual increase of 8.6%. At the current rate of property growth, by the time a child born today reaches the average first time buyer age of 35, the average house price in 2048 will be £3.4 million. Even children who are ten years old today face paying more than £1.6 million for a proper

Leaseholders at a Welsh leisure park have lost their Supreme Court appeal against service charges that will eventually top £500,000. The appellants in the Arnold v Britton and others case are leaseholders of chalets at the Oxwich Leisure Park near Swansea. There are 91 chalets on the site, each let on a 99-year lease from 1974. The first 70 leases granted contain a clause stating that lessees would pay an annual service charge that would increase by a compound rate of ten per cent every three years. The

The Deposit Protection Service has advised landlords and letting agents to act soon over older tenancy deposits, now that new legislation has introduced a deadline for their protection. Following the Deregulation Act, which passed into law at the end of March, landlords have until 23 June to protect deposits taken before 6 April, 2007 and which they are still holding for periodic tenancies agreed on or after that date. The Act has also clarified the uncertainty created by a June 2013 decision by the Cou

Law firm Moore Blatch is warning landlords that they could be hit with compensation claims in the event of a data protection breach, even if no ‘financial loss’ occurs. It follows the ruling in the recent Google Inc. v Vidal-Hall court case, where the Court of Appeal clarified the rules under the Data Protection Act 1988, which were previously interpreted as allowing compensation claims only if a data breach caused a financial loss. Following clarification by the court, Clause 13 of the Act will now be

Landlords will be required by law to install working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in their properties, under legislation expected to take effect from October. It is thought the move could help prevent up to 26 deaths and 670 injuries a year. Mark Oakes, from the Building & Engineering Services Association, said: “We welcome this new legislation as it will mean landlords will have to install smoke alarms on each storey of their property and carbon monoxide alarms in the rooms considered most at risk f