Healys expert solicitors can support you to extend the lease of your leaseholder’s flat or sell your freehold. With over 10 years’ experience, you can rely on our team to guide you through the process efficiently to achieve the best outcome for you.

LEASE EXTENSIONS

The Process

Generally, there are two main routes. The first is via the informal route and the second via the statutory route.

The Informal Route

You may be able to agree an informal lease extension with your leaseholder. We can assist in ensuring that all of the legal documentation is in order and guide you through the process from start to finish. The benefit to following the informal route is that it can be quicker and more cost effective than following the statutory route (which is explained below). There is no obligation on you to accept an informal offer made by your leaseholder and you may dictate what terms you consider to be reasonable. Of course, if the intention is to enter into a deal with your leaseholder then your offer must generally be made with this in mind. Unreasonable terms are unlikely to result in a viable deal. Our team can take you through the entire process step by step and provide valuable commercial advice that will assist you in taking your matter through to completion.

The Statutory Route

If a leaseholder has served you with a formal notice to extend their lease, the chances are you will be obliged to grant that person a statutory lease extension under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. They will be entitled to new lease for a term of 90 years on top of their current term and their ground rent will be reduced to a peppercorn. The premium they will pay will be negotiated between your appointed surveyor and your leaseholder’s appointed surveyor.

There are strict time limits to abide by in following the statutory route and our team will be on hand to guide you through the entire process from beginning to end. We will check the leaseholder’s eligibility for a statutory lease extension, review the initial notice served on you, draft and serve your counter notice, draft and then settle the lease extension document and lastly, deal with completion for you. If terms cannot be agreed (which in our experience is extremely rare) then we can assist and guide you through the application process with the First Tier Tribunal Property Chamber, which is the mechanism you can use to force a determination and ultimately close the lease extension process.

Whichever route is being taken, our team of experts will be on hand to provide you with effective legal advice and valuable commercial guidance to ensure that you obtain a favourable outcome.

COLLECTIVE ENFRANCHISEMENT CLAIMS

If you are reading this then it is very likely you have been served with a formal notice by the majority of leaseholders in your building to acquire the freehold from you.

The basic test is that generally, the majority of qualifying leaseholders in your building (50% or more) can serve a formal notice on their landlord to acquire the freehold. We will check their eligibility under the legislation to carry out the acquisition, review and report to you on the validity of their formal offer notice, draft and serve your counter notice, draft and settle the transfer documentation and then deal with completion for you.

If terms cannot be agreed within the statutory time limits then an application to the First Tier Tribunal Property Chamber can be made to determine the terms. This will force closure on the acquisition. As above, we can assist and guide you through that process and provide valuable commercial guidance to ensure a favourable outcome.

With over 10 years’ experience in dealing with collective enfranchisement claims, you can rely on our team to guide you through the process efficiently from start to finish.

RIGHT TO MANAGE CLAIMS

Under Part 2, Chapter 1 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2020, your leaseholders have a statutory right to take over the management of your building providing certain criteria are satisfied. Generally, they will have the right to take over the management of the building if a majority of the tenants in the block take part and the statutory procedure is followed correctly.

We will check the eligibility of your leaseholders to take over the management of the building, review their initial notice and guide you through the statutory process to completion. Healys’ expert solicitors have over 10 years’ experience in dealing with right to manage claims and so you can rely on us to guide you efficiently through the process.

RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL CLAIMS

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, certain disposals trigger the right of first refusal. If you are reading this then it is very likely you are intending to make a disposal and are seeking expert legal advice on how to proceed. If so then you have already made the right decision as a failure to comply with the abovementioned legislation can have serious consequences.

Firstly, we will check whether your disposal is caught by the abovementioned legislation. If not then you will be able to proceed with the disposal as you see fit. If it is then we will guide you through the statutory process, which will include checking the title documentation, drafting and serving the initial offer notice, reviewing the leaseholders counter notice(s), drafting and settling the legal documentation and dealing with completion. Healys expert team will be there take you step by step through the entire process from start to finish.