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The recession has hit the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal, revealed Siobhan McGrath, Senior President at the Annual Conference of the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE). Since May 2008, enfranchisement applications to the LVT have dropped by as much as 50%. It is thought thatpeople are waiting for market conditions to settle down as well as purchasers having difficulty securing financing. In another development, there has been an increase in “can’t pay/won’t pay” applications as managing agents experience gr

You have decided that you want to enfranchise your property, be it through collective enfranchisement with your fellow leaseholders, or by going it alone with a lease extension but there is one problem, you cannot find your landlord! If past rent demands are non existent, the superior title is not registered at the Land registry or serving a Notice under section 11 or 41 of the 1993 Act Requiring Information upon the suspected landlord or their managing agents reveals nothing, what are the options then

The Leasehold Reform Act 1967 first gave leaseholders the right to purchase their freehold or extend their lease. The legislation has been since been amended, but what about the most significant cases that have developed the law? The first cases under the 1967 Act were soon heard, when Customs v Hearts of Oak Benefit Society and Haw v Peek decided that the tenant must be considered a competitor in the hypothetical open market in s9(1) of the 1967 Act. Consequently, the 1967 Act was amended by the Housing

Depending on future market changes, the timing of instigating statutory lease extensions, or enfranchisements, may affect the premium payable. The volume of lease extensions, and enfranchisements, has picked up, but remains low. Perceptions, from news reports, are that residential values have fallen across all sectors. Many lessees think premiums will be minimized, by serving Notice at the bottom of the market.But are they correct? They might want answers to the following: Has the bottom of the market

Managing Agent of an Enfranchised Building Winner: Retirement Lease Housing Association Finalists: London Borough of Camden and the Retirement Lease Housing Association The Retirement Lease Housing Association manages leasehold estates throughout the South East of England either as freeholder or as manager on behalf of the freeholder. Ben Young, Chief Executive, says his “winning formula” is simple as he focuses on close communication and delivering value for money. The RLHA also makes

The Enfranchisement Awards 2009 celebrated excellence in the UK leasehold enfranchisement and lease extension industry and were presented by award winning BBC radio sports presenter, Garry Richardson. The independent panel of judges was comprised of Paul Marsh, the President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Robert Levene the Chief Executive of the Federation of Private Residents Associations and Georgiana Hibberd, the Associate Director of the Residential Faculty of the Royal Institu

The leasehold sector sector is highly regulated. Successive Landlord and Tenant Acts have introduced measures designed to protect the leaseholders from the excesses of unreasonable and exploitative landlords. In difficult financial times, landlords are perhaps seeking more creative ways of maximising a return on their investments. Substantive measures are now in place to govern service charges through to the Right to Manage, which enables the leaseholders to take over the landlord’s management functions,

NOTB Can you tell me a bit of Skys background?PW We are an area of Sky TV that looks after people living in flats. About 3 years ago Sky set up a team called Sky Homes, which I was asked to manage because of my experience with Broadband at BT. NOTB What kind of problems have you had to deal with in installing Sky TV into blocks of flats?PW Apart from engineering problems, planning laws and regulations. The real challenge is finding the decision makers and getting them to give approval. NOTB What do you th

The two largest elements of most service charge costs are insurance and the cleaning/ caretaking, and porter services. Leaving aside insurance costs, as residents will never leave a block uninsured, the item most under scrutiny is the cleaning and caretaking charge. Here, a balance must be struck between service and value. This can only be achieved by the cleaning company having a clear and defined understanding of what is required, not only from the residents in respect to service level, specification

I was reading an article by the eminent architect, Sir Terry Farrell. He was extolling the need for the UK to ‘dense up’ its housing developments, using the example of Kensington and Chelsea to show that people in the UK can live pleasantly in higher density (but not necessarily high rise) housing. I cannot say I particularly bought the example. There are a number of other reasons why the residents of SW3 are happy to live at higher density and accept other trade offs. Like a lot of Brits I don’t

Owing to poor management, unreasonable service charges and shortened leases enfranchisement actions have become increasingly popular in recent times. One case in particular which completed in 2009 is Greenhill, involving a block of 140 flats in Hampstead. This action was so complex it took five years to complete. In 2004, the then Landlord of the block granted a lease to a mobile phone provider for a mobile phone mast on the roof of the block. A concerned Chairman of the Greenhill Residents Association

Wasps represent a danger both to residents and visiting contractors. Contractors visiting premises often encounter them in confined spaces like lofts, lift motor rooms and gardens. This can delay essential works and lead to serious accidents. Residents too can encounter problems when they nest in air vents or fly into buildings when attracted by lights at night. Biology Wasps are omnivorous, feeding on fallen fruits and nectar but mostly catching other insects like greenfly early on in their life cycl