Tag Archives: Info for freeholders

I am a freeholder. Do I have to grant a lease extension to the leaseholder?

There is no obligation to grant a lease extension to a leaseholder who simply asks for one.  However, if a notice is served by a qualifying leaseholder and followed through, then the leaseholder has a statutory right to compel the landlord to grant the lease extension to 90 years on top of the unexpired term.  If you fail to respond to the notice that is served, with a counter notice in the appropriate period then you are deemed to grant the lease extension at the premium proposed by the leaseholder.

Accordingly, if notice is served and followed through you will have to grant a lease extension to the flat owner.

If you are served with any kind of statutory notice then this should not be ignored as the consequences can be disastrous. If you are served with a notice under Section 13 or Section 42 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, then your reasonable costs will be covered by the flat owner(s) serving the notice. You should therefore take professional advice as soon as possible.

I am a landlord and want to do a deal with my tenant – how do I do this?

If you want to sell a lease extension, the first thing you need to know is that you are probably going to need valuation advice from a surveyor properly qualified in this area.

The price that should be charged for the lease extension needs to be agreeable to both parties. It may be possible to arrange for a joint instruction of one valuer who will provide an opinion on the  ‘fair’ price to be paid for the lease extension.

Alternatively, you may simply ask the Valuer to work for you as landlord. If this is done the report prepared does not need to be disclosed to the flat owner.

However, the costs of this valuation should be paid for by the party requesting the extension. As such your surveyor’s or valuer’s fees should either be paid upfront by the paying party or a solicitors’ undertaking should be obtained requiring them to pay these within a specified time frame.

You may also wish to consider the terms to be offered – ie. the mix of premium and ground rent – for instance, will you offer terms similar to that available under the 1993 Act or will you offer a lease extension back to 125 years or 99 years possibly retaining a ground rent ? You will require specialist advice to make this decision – and may need a suitably qualified solicitor to advise on the best way to achieve terms and the difference between them.