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For any residential leaseholder receiving a demand to pay service charge certain questions often arise.  What exactly am I paying for?  How can I check I am not being overcharged?  Doesn’t my landlord have to explain this in more detail?  Leaseholders do have a number of ways in which to obtain answers to such questions, and don’t need to remain in the dark. Look to the lease Before seeking to enforce or rely on any other rights, leaseholders should first look to their lease.  What

i) What is a service charge? A service charge is the amount payable by a tenant to a landlord which retains responsibility for the provision of the services in the building and passes the cost of this onto the tenant in a proportion prescribed by the lease.   ii) What is a ground rent? Ground rent is the amount payable for the use of the land upon which a building stands. It is calculated by reference to the value of the site without any buildings on it.   iii) What is a reserve fund? A rese

Another change in the landscape is that tenants increasingly wear two hats: more and more lessees have exercised the right to collective enfranchisement or the right to manage and thus become their own landlord.  Lessees who run their own freehold or RTM companies see both sides of the service charge divide and need to be more aware than anyone of service charge rights and liabilities. What's in this supplement? The price of legislation to enhance lessees’ rights has been complexity.  The intent of th

When a lease is extended, and , the management company is a party to that lease, then the management company’s obligations are not automatically extended too. Therefore, it is important to consider the management position whilst considering a lease extension. Who will undertake the management? (A) The Management Company mentioned in the original Lease The Management Company in the original lease can be a party to the newly extended lease.  Its management will continue during the extended term. Howe

In a collective claim, a Participation Agreement.  will set out your obligations with the rest of the group bringing the claim.  It will usually require regular payments throughout the continuance of the claim to fund the costs and also contribute a share of the purchase price (when ascertained).  The Agreement should provide that you will not do anything to invalidate the claim. If you withdraw then you accept responsibility for your share of the costs. In collective claims, - Section 28 (4) of the Lea

The enfranchisement process is a relatively simple one.  The hurdles are there for the unwary practitioner but if the professional  knows his or her field of practice,  this is not something for the client to be concerned about. Ensuring that the process is simple for your clients is key and this can be explained at an initial meeting of leaseholders, ideally with a valuer present. The actual process can be simplified by explaining: 1.                  That the process itself is not complicated:  it i

FACT 1: A lease is a wasting asset. The value of a leasehold property will diminish (relative to its value had it been afreehold) as the lease runs down. The rate of decline is modest where it is long, but accelerates as it gets shorter. Correspondingly, as the lease length reduces so the cost of extending it increases. The longer you leave it, the moreexpensive it gets. Broadly. FACT 2: When you extend your lease, you are acquiring (most of) the landlord’s equity in your flat. You are therefore a buyer,

On 10 December 2008 the House of Lords gave judgment in respect of 5 appeals known,as the Sportelli appeals. The issue raised was whether landlords are entitled to have “hope value” in the valuation of their interests under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (“the 1967 Act”) and the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (“the 1993 Act”). Part of the price paid by a leaseholder acquiring a new lease or the freehold, is “marriage value”. In simple terms, this is the additional value that can

The recent, yet expected, official declaration that Britain has fallen into a recession means that over the coming months unemployment is set to increase to well over 2 million and could reach over 3 million by the end of the year. Losing your job can be devastating and overwhelming, both financially and emotionally. The word “redundancy” being used on a daily basis and with more businesses cutting back or closing altogether many people are facing unemployment. And trying to find a job in this economic

YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW The rent payable by the intermediate landlord (‘IL’): at the valuation date and following any increases. All the rents receivable by the intermediate landlord at the valuation date and the rent receivable from the flat following any increases. METHOD 1.  Apportion the head rent as between the various flats.  There is no hard and fast method for the apportionment, but there is one LVT decision on this issue (Regency Lodge - LON/NL/5243/06). 2.  Test whether the IL's interest in

NOTB Could you tell us about your background and how you became involved in property management, particularly the benefits  of a mechanical engineering background? AT After gaining a degree in Mechanical Engineering from King’s College London, I went straight into graduate training in IT consultancy and worked for ICL and Oracle. After 8 years in the industry and having worked on major IT projects (some property related) I then decided to focus my efforts on my first passion – property. Having been intima

In the Government's lofty view the justification for regulation arises from risk and this is directed more toward protection of life and limb than financial integrity.  The  fantastically named Better Regulation Commission concluded: “The BRC takes risk to mean the full range of social, environmental, economic, technical, health and other threats, large and small, that we as a society recognise and believe the Government should protect us from.”  (Monty Python, where are you now?)  The fact that unr