We have a short lease (79 years remaining). With all the leasehold reform that is mooted is it best to extend now or wait?
Extend lease now or wait?
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Extend lease now or wait?
Thanks to Marina Sergides of Garden Court for this note of an interesting County Court possession claim, defended on public law grounds. Tower Hamlets LBC v Ali, County Court at Clerkenwell & Shoreditch. 21 July 2021 Tower Hamlets (“TH”) brought a claim for possession against Mr Ali after his mother, a secure tenant, died. His […]Tags: None
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The principal area where savings would be made for those with leases under 80 years is the abolition of marriage value that’s has been proposed
however this would be subject to a very strong challenge by the great estates in London and their attack may be centred around a revision to the deferment rate used currently 5% - there is a very compelling case for lowering this from the rate set in 2006 - Sportelli following the collapse in the risk free rate which since 2006 has fallen from 2.5% to MINUS 0.25% - if the deferment rate fell by just 1.25% to 3.75% then this would compensate for the loss in marriage value - yet would make the formula easier and quicker which meets with the government objective
Therefore if you are confident that the government will push through its reforms successful without any modifications then it would appear worthwhile waiting
However most commentators are not that confident and expect there to be a great deal of horse trading and appeals to the European Court of Human Rights and expect the outcome to produce only modest savings - therefore you should press ahead sooner rather than later as the cost of a statutory lease extension once the term has gone below 80 years rises quite sharply
my own view is that meaningful savings could be had if landlords paid their own fees during lease ext or enfranchisement especially if they acquired their interest post 1993 - this could save a some £3k - £4K to the lessee
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The proposals would have enormous negative impact on the value of freeholds and it is expected there will be an enormous pushback from those with influence
Proposals that ground rents be capped in the enfranchisement / lease extension process is going to be confrontational - suggesting that this needs to happen as lessees were unaware of what they were signing up to or that ground rents should only have been a token sum - are weak arguments as the lessee was represented professionally in the transaction and would have profound impact on other contracts and how the rest of the world views the strength of contract law conducted in this country
the government appear to using the CMA to deal with the issue of 10. & 15 year doubling ( a possible acknowledgement that capping ground rents through legislation retrospectively is far to challenging ) after those two types of rent have been dealt with what is left ie ground rent above £250 perhaps linked the RPI is hardly the stuff of nightmares to warrant the government to go into battle at the European Court of Human Rights
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by SouthernDaveI’ve seen this question come up before, but I couldn’t find a topic specific to this question;
we have bought a leasehold flat which needs major work. I have submitted drawings to the freeholder for their permission to put up a wall and make a new door way, BUT…
changing the kitchen...-
Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
15-08-2022, 16:50 PM -
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by SouthernDaveThe word “structure” is definitely misused in lease agreements. If the word “structural” is used then this could refer to load bearing walls, but the word “structure” is fairly ambiguous. Even though a partition wouldn’t technically be “structural”, it could still be considered “structure”....
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Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
15-08-2022, 21:57 PM -
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by TipperRemoving walls between rooms can compromise the fire compartmentation and escape routes from of the flat. You should be careful not to put yourselves or others at risk....
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Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
15-08-2022, 21:20 PM -
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by Section20zRemoving any wall is a structural alteration (regardless if its plasterboard it can still be load bearing). I would always want to see full plans and structural engineers report before granting consent.
Risks to freeholder are just too great....-
Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
15-08-2022, 21:11 PM -
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by StarlaneThe flat above one of our tenants has caused two separate water ingress issues to the flat below June and August, the issue is apparently either a faulty slow leaking stop cock or washing machine. They have asked to see a plumbers report and apparently there isnt one .The MA said no insurance claim...
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Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
14-08-2022, 16:56 PM -
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by LawcruncherStarlane should ask for a claim to be made to see what the MA comes back with.
It comes down to what the tenant's repair clause, the landlord's repair clause and the insurance provisions in the lease say and how they interact. Can you set them out for us, Starlane?-
Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
15-08-2022, 20:51 PM -
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by jrsteeveYou aren't actually wrong. The damage caused so far may be below the excess, so not worthy of a claim. If remedials are above the excess the MA should put you in touch with the broker/claims portal. Unless it's affecting the common areas the MA will deem it a flat to flat leak, so isn't their immediate...
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Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
15-08-2022, 20:16 PM -
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by Hudson01No, i did'nt but i know of neighbours who did..... but they were just plasterboard walls to separate the lounge from the kitchen to make it a little more..... open. So certainly no supporting walls that would require steel etc. I would say that anything requiring more than a joiner would be a no, n...
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Channel: Residential Letting Questions
15-08-2022, 17:38 PM -
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by comm1985What can a freeholder do to a leaseholder who is subletting to a subtenant that is causing nuisance to the adjacent neighbours (anti social behaviour).
Steps Taken so far:
1) A police complaint against the subtenant has already been raised by the adjacent neighbours.
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Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
15-08-2022, 10:00 AM -
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Reply to Enforcement of Nuisance Clauseby AndrewDodYou can likely do nothing at all, but letting us know the exact problem would help.
Landlords of tenants can hardly remove them anyway even if they want to do so - so not sure that your S146 is going to assist. The nuclear option is hardly likely to succeed anyway....-
Channel: Long Leasehold Questions
15-08-2022, 17:30 PM -
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