OFT to investigate activities of leasehold property managers
Author: Tony Lilleystone
5th December 2013, 12 years ago | 53
Tony Lilleystone
Tony Lilleystone
Registered with Property118.com
12th September 2013
Total Posts
1
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64
21st June 2016, 10 years ago
It looks from your post as if the whole of the building is comprised in a single lease. If that is the case then it may be a business lease which you wouldn't be entitled to extend. Owners of leasehold...
Read More →20th June 2016, 10 years ago
What does your lease say about rent increases?
Read More →23rd May 2016, 10 years ago
Ground rent reviews of the sort you mention are not looked on with any favour by mortgage lenders, so you could find marketability affected by difficulties in buyers getting a mortgage. Better go down the statutory route where the GR...
Read More →23rd May 2016, 10 years ago
Just to add that although co-habitees do not appear to be mentioned in the English SDLT legislation they are in the similar Scottish legislation for their Land and Buildings Transaction Tax - I believe because Scottish Law may recognise 'common...
Read More →26th April 2016, 10 years ago
This insurance situation is not uncommon with maisonettes or when old houses are converted into flats. It is likely that buyers’ solicitors will be unhappy, as mortgage lenders will normally want reassurance that the whole building is insured under a...
Read More →7th April 2016, 10 years ago
Here’s an extract Q&A from the guidance note on the new SDLT (not SDTL) rates published by HMRC, which looks relevant to your case. Q1. I am purchasing a new main residence but intend to retain my current main residence,...
Read More →5th November 2015, 10 years ago
Hi Jacqueline Is your property in England/Wales or Scotland? There are quite different legal systems for ownership of flats in each country. If it is in England/Wales then it most unlikely that your individual flat will have a freehold title....
Read More →4th November 2015, 10 years ago
As always, check the exact wording of your lease. Leases of flats invariably contain a tenant's covenant prohibiting alterations to the property and the removal of a partition would fall into that category. But as you say you haven't removed...
Read More →26th October 2015, 10 years ago
You should certainly contact the gas supply company in case there is a problem with the meter. I see that you moved in May but the problem with the hot water and heating has only just arisen. So have you...
Read More →26th October 2015, 10 years ago
Who owns the freehold of the block? In the first instance it's really up to them to take action. But it's virtually impossible to forfeit a lease of residential premises, because that amounts to taking away a valuable asset from...
Read More →20th July 2015, 11 years ago
Hi Carolyn I note that you say that you own a freehold house, but I assume it is actually leasehold if you are being asked to pay a ground rent. Although they are a fact of life for commercial property...
Read More →Reply to comment left by Oval ball Rugby at 20/05/2015 - 11:48
Reply to the comment left by "Oval ball Rugby" at "20/05/2015 - 11:48": Welcome to the wonderful world of leasehold flats! (at least, in England and Wales.) I have some comments on your post: 1. There is (or was) a...
Read More →20th May 2015, 11 years ago
I am guessing that your property is in a fairly large block, with some flat-owners renting their properties while others are owner/occupiers. I have encountered a number of such properties where the owner/occupiers are not happy with the behaviour of...
Read More →18th May 2015, 11 years ago
The agents are trying to protect their own backs. There is a 'due diligence' defence to a prosecution under the 2008 Regulations i.e. “that the commission of the offence was due to [among other things] reliance on information supplied to...
Read More →8th May 2015, 11 years ago
Many lenders will lend on conversions provided that a Professional Consultant's Certificate is provided in the form issued by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The professional consultant should be either a registered architect or a member of one of the...
Read More →30th April 2015, 11 years ago
Ian's latest reply to Antony Richards is absolutely spot on. I would just add that there is no way a mortgagee can be said to be an 'owner' of the property. The owner is the person in whom the legal...
Read More →30th April 2015, 11 years ago
Bear in mind that you may first have to offer the freehold to the existing leaseholders under the Right of First Refusal provisions of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1987. (See the advice on the Leasehold Advisory Service website for...
Read More →28th April 2015, 11 years ago
Hi Emma I can't claim to be an expert in this field as while I have dealt with lease extension cases I haven't handled a freehold enfranchisement case from a missing landlord. However I have occasionally investigated the law in...
Read More →24th April 2015, 11 years ago
I recollect that there is a long-standing rule of law that a tenant is 'estopped from denying his landlord's title' – in other words a tenant cannot argue in court that because his landlord was not entitled to grant the...
Read More →Reply to comment left by Mark Alexander at 21/04/2015 - 19:34
Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "21/04/2015 - 19:34": Yes Mark, joint owners will be jointly and severally liable for a mortgage (although I suppose a lender could agree otherwise in a particular case.). But if you...
Read More →Showing 20 of 64 comments