We own the freehold of a flat above our shop. The lease clearly states the leaseholder can not sublet. He wants a deed of variation to change this and also an agreement that we pay the insurance for the whole building and he will make a contribution to the cost. He is trying to sell the flat, possibly to an investor who wants a buy to let mortgage.My question is the original deed is quite old and we've been told new laws have come into force which mean he could take us to a tribunal and have a good chance of the judge making us agree to his requests. It's mainly the sub letting we are not happy with as we would have no control over the tenants.Is what we've been told correct?
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Sections 35 to 37 Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 apply, however
- a restriction on subletting will not be removed
- a change to insurance is possible but only if the lease fails to make adequate arrangements,.
If the flat above is required to insure "their half" that is perfectly adequate and quite common.
He would lose.
If however you are prepared to consider the changes for a nice little payment thats another matter. Perhaps slip in a modern ground rent and a requirement to get your consent to let, and it might reduce your overall insurance premium and give you piece of mind that the flat is insured ,and adequately so.Based on the information posted, I offer my thoughts.Any action you then take is your liability. While commending individual effort, there is no substitute for a thorough review of documents and facts by paid for professional advisers. -
Many thanks for your reply. What would be a reasonable ground rent increase to ask for? At present it's only £20. Also what do you feel would be a reasonable sum to ask for in return for agreeing to the changes?Comment
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