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LEASE EXTENSIONS:  Subject to a few exceptions, all long leaseholders who have held their lease for at least two years have the individual right to renew their lease.  Once you have established you are entitled to extend your lease, the next question will be, “how much will it cost?”  Generally, as the lease length gets shorter, the premium payable to extend the lease increases.  To determine the premium payable for a lease extension, valuation surveyors will use a formula set out by statu

Depending on whether you wish to extend your lease or buy your freehold, the calculation of marriage value you will have to pay will vary, but the principle is the same. You start with what you will end up with: the value of the interest to be granted, assuming vacant possession, assessed by considering comparable evidence of properties recently sold in the market.  I call this A. The value of the freeholder’s interest is calculated by applying a formula established by precedent and reflects the f

In recent years the deferment rate has become one of the main focal points for arguments in negotiating lease extension and collective enfranchisement claims. Deferment rate is the annual discount applied on a compound basis to an anticipated future receipt to arrive at the market value of the freehold at the valuation date. In recent years the deferment rate has become one of the main focal points for arguments in negotiating lease extension and collective enfranchisement claims. There have been nume

Life in a block of flats has all the ingredients of a good soap opera: the range of personalities, the things that go wrong, the problems of difficult tenants. It often adds up to a really good drama. Holding it all together in stability and harmony are probably the Directors of the flat management company. It may be a Residents’ Management Company set up as a party to the leases, or it may increasingly be a Right to Manage (RTM) Company. People come and go, and so volunteer Directors are always neede

With the need for fire risk assessments to be undertaken in residential blocks, the question of who has control over the flat owners’ front door from a fire risk point of view can be divisive. LEGISLATION OVERLAP The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (“2005 Order”) imposes obligations on the responsible person to take general fire precautions in respect of the common parts of a block of flats. Importantly, however, the 2005 Order does not impose any obligations on the individual flats themselve

As one of the government's zero cabon callenge sites, Hanham Hall on the outskirts of Bristol, is an example of a community management scheme. Along with blocks of flats, these schemes manage wider and more complex community assets such as energy centres, community centres and play areas.  Flats are normally managed by a company limited by shares or by guarantee. Community schemes have to be managed by a Community Interest Company (CIC) or Development Trust (DT). These schemes have an asset ‘lock’ tha

New Junior Vice President of British Property Federation Bill Hughes, managing director of Legal & General Property, has become junior vice president of the British Property Federation. The appointment means that Hughes, the head of one of the largest institutional property fund managers in the UK with £10.3bn of assets under management, will take the role of president of the BPF in two years’ time. British Land chief executive Chris Grigg has taken on the role of BPF president for a one-year term,

In 2013 a new First Tier Tribunal, Property Chamber will be introduced which will comprise: Rent Assessment Committees; Rent Tribunals; Residential Property Tribunals; Leasehold Valuation Tribunals; and Agricultural Land Tribunals. The Tribunal Procedure Committee of the Ministry of Justice is currently conducting a consultation exercise to seek views on the proposed rules for the Property Chamber. The proposed draft Property Chamber Rules 2013 aims to consolidate and reform the rules of procedure governi

QUESTION I have a query about the rationale for service charge amounts and whether they can be changed. I live in a block of 50 flats, where the owners have share of freehold. When I purchased my flat, I knew what percentage I paid and could see what other flats paid, but not on what basis. I assumed it was by size of the flat. I have since learned that there is no logic: it's not by square footage, floor, or anything that might make sense. Apparently, the original owner distributed the service charg

Ellodie Gibbons from Tanfield Chambers has become the first barrister to join ALEP (the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners). Alex Greenslade, Honorary Secretary, ALEP explained: “On the basis that Tanfield Chambers and some fifty other barristers can lay claim to expertise in leasehold enfranchisement, we have amended our constitution in order to welcome barristers to the association.” Ellodie Gibbons said: “Philip Rainey QC and I were happy to assist the directors of ALEP in devis

Specialist legal property management firm Brady Solicitors has opened an office on London’s Tottenham Court Road, making it the closest firm to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal and marking the firm’s first expansion outside of Nottingham. Managing Director Clare Brady explained: “We will be scaling up our London presence over the coming months and are confident that it will prove to be an important investment for the firm. It’s been a busy month as we have also launched our new website.”

Bournemouth - based blocks of flats insurance broker, Deacon, has announced that it has won a contract to insure a major new residential block; the Regent, situated in London’s trendy Battersea. Built on a brown-field site, 200m from the Thames and situated close to one of the capital’s best known landmarks, the iconic Battersea power station; the Regent is a new-build development by Linden Homes comprising 108 residential and commercial units. Managing Agent, Pentland Estate Management Limited ha