I have read the article in your issue November/December 2002 with interest and note the duties of tenants as regards the conditions of their leases. But what can or may the landlords do if these conditions are not adhered to? Will a landlord spend hundreds of pounds on taking a tenant to court because he has not kept to the conditions of his lease? Surely no landlord is going to lay out much money because a tenant has rebuilt his flat, or not transferred it legally or correctly, or even not bothered to pay his ground rent subject to it being only a nominal sum of perhaps less than £100.00 per annum? There are many rules and laws in this country which are not kept or enforced because of the cost of enforcing them! Yours sincerely, Edgar Mehl, by e-mail

I think you are unduly pessimistic. If the tenant is in the wrong and does not put things right then the court is likely to award costs and once it does that the tenant is most unlikely to repeat the offence. Even if the landlord is left slightly out of pocket this is usually a price worth paying to prevent the offending conduct from continuing. In fact landlords do take action on the sort of situations that you mention though we agree there is no reason to take action on ground rent until the arrears are in three figures. It all depends if you are a pro-active landlord or not. In the long run, it is better to be pro-active. Desmond Taylor, Solicitor