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If your managing agent isn’t doing their job properly, what steps can you take to rectify the situation? We spoke to the FPRA’s John Peartree about what to do when you aren’t happy with the managing agent’s performance, and look at all the options available to the dissatisfied leaseholder. Residents fall out with managing agents for a huge variety of reasons – poor financial handling, not paying bills, not making repairs or carrying out maintenance fast enough and being hard to get in touch with are but

So you need to find a managing agent for your block of flats. The good news is that you have this book, which is an excellent resource for finding one. However, now you have several hundred companies from which to choose, so where do you start? Here, we look at how to approach the hunt for the perfect agent. Check out what sort of properties the agent already manages – are they similar to yours? You want to make sure that the agent will be suitable for your needs. Someone who manages luxury blocks wi

Whenever a managing agent isn’t doing their job properly, at some point, at least one leaseholder will undoubtedly utter a variation on the phrase “what are we paying this service charge for when we aren’t getting any service?” But contrary to popular belief, the service charge doesn’t just disappear into the managing agent’s pocket – or at least it shouldn’t! Andrew Adamides breaks down the whys and wherefores of what the service charge is for, how it’s calculated and where it should be going. Put in its

We read about people being sued in the papers, see it on the news, watch television programs about it and it is even used in plot lines on films but we never think it will happen to us – do we? We discussed the situation of health & safety with Pete Gilgallon, operations manager, The GOL Group. The reality of being sued by someone for an accident that has happened to them due to poor health and safety is an everyday occurrence in the UK. Any company that has dealings with the public must do all they can

Many lessees may have heard the term “enfranchisement” without really knowing what it means. Basically enfranchisement is a group or collective right for leaseholders of flats to buy the freehold of the building they live in, regardless of whether the landlord wants to sell. Seeking a lease extension on the other hand, is an individual right for leaseholders to buy a new, extended lease which adds on 90 years to the unexpired lease with no ground rent. Although the rights are slightly different, the proc

Join News on the Block at this year's annual LEASE conference. As always the line up is formidable is a veritable who’s who of residential leasehold! LEASE is a government funded body that provides free legal advice on any aspect of residential leasehold and Commonhold to leaseholders, landlords, professional advisers and to Government. Each year LEASE responds to more than 32,000 enquiries and is therefore ideally placed to understand the concerns and issues of all participants in the sector. This year t

Click here to downlaod a pdf of the latest News on the Block supplement - Collective Enfranchisement 2008: Central London ** Please note the supplement is only available to subsribers. For more information on how to sign up to News on the Block please click here

Welcome to this special NOTB supplement on enfranchisement. It’s a big supplement about a big issue for leaseholders, buying out their landlord and taking control of their assets. Enfranchisement can be complicated, frequently fraught with problems, but wholly achievable by the ordinary leaseholder; whether a major mansion block, a docklands tower or a simple three-flat conversion the principles and procedures are much the same. A huge level of professional expertise has developed since enfranchisement be

News on the Block’s regular columnist (and one of the original campaigners back in 1993) adds her own unique take on the enfranchisement landscape and recalls the often difficult path that has led us to where we are today. Leaseholders’ rights began in 1993 – but did not bring the desired benefits for a further decade. Before 1993 there was a strictly limited opportunity for the owners of houses and flats, whose landlord was selling the freehold anyway, to a “right of first refusal”. But this feeble law,

Taking control – although the leaseholders often own the majority of the equity in the building (in the value of their flats), the freeholder controls all aspects of its management, maintenance and future. Buying out this minority share places the leaseholders in full management control, to save costs, improve services and manage the building as they choose. Renewing the leases – in acquiring the freehold the leaseholders gain the power to extend the term of their leases, ideally to 999 years. The valuat

Alastair Stimson, Associate in Savills’ Residential Valuation and Litigation Support Department and enfranchisement expert, introduces the subject and explains why it has never been more important to consider purchasing your freehold. Ignoring the fact that you own a leasehold property, a diminishing interest, could cost you dearly. After all, you probably spend a significant amount of time managing and tracking your other investments; however property is likely to be the most valuable of them all and i

Before you can successfully file for enfranchisement, it is essential you do your research to make sure your block is eligible. Nic Shulman deciphers between those that can, and those that can’t. Collective enfranchisement was first introduced by the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and it is the absolute right of leaseholders of 50 per cent or more of the flats in a block to buy the freehold of the building. Collective enfranchisement gives flat owners in a building total contro