Coppen Estates. . . .Sheffield

[jodman 10]

Hi Jeffrey,

 

i want to buy the freehold for my property from coppen (yearly rent = £50, remaining term = 99 years ) but i have to wait until next June by which point i will have owned the house for 2 years. At that point my intention is to contact you to discuss formally.

 

I wondered if you could give me a rough estimate of cost based on the info above just so i have a general idea how much i need to have available by the time June comes around.

 

Thanks.

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

15 hours ago, jodman said:

Hi Jeffrey,

 

i want to buy the freehold for my property from coppen (yearly rent = £50, remaining term = 99 years ) but i have to wait until next June by which point i will have owned the house for 2 years. At that point my intention is to contact you to discuss formally.

 

I wondered if you could give me a rough estimate of cost based on the info above just so i have a general idea how much i need to have available by the time June comes around.

 

Thanks.

Price for f/r: don't know- but it's likely to be > £1500, as the lease's residue will be only about 98yrs.

 

Coppen's fees: currently £500 + VAT for conveyancing work (even though, bizarrely, its solicitor confirms that his firm does NOT receive that amount!) plus £500 + VAT for valuation fee (even though, bizarrely, Coppen does not usually appoint any valuer and all negotiations tend to be direct with its Mr Pennington!)

 

Purchase fees: usually about £600-£700 + VAT and about £50 of HMLR fees.

Edited November 26, 2019 by Jeffrey Shaw

[jodman 10]

On ‎26‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 13:02, Jeffrey Shaw said:

Price for f/r: don't know- but it's likely to be > £1500, as the lease's residue will be only about 98yrs.

 

Coppen's fees: currently £500 + VAT for conveyancing work (even though, bizarrely, its solicitor confirms that his firm does NOT receive that amount!) plus £500 + VAT for valuation fee (even though, bizarrely, Coppen does not usually appoint any valuer and all negotiations tend to be direct with its Mr Pennington!)

 

Purchase fees: usually about £600-£700 + VAT and about £50 of HMLR fees.

 

Thanks very much for this information Jeffrey, so just to confirm the rough estimate is £1500 + coppen fees (£1000 + VAT) + Purchase fees (£600-700 + vat) + HMLR fee (£50) bringing the rough estimate total to around £3500?

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

Yes- assuming that my guess at the purchase price is accurate; please do not rely on this.

However, it's important that you buy the freehold reversion as the lease's unexpired term is quite short.

[jodman 10]

17 minutes ago, Jeffrey Shaw said:

Yes- assuming that my guess at the purchase price is accurate; please do not rely on this.

However, it's important that you buy the freehold reversion as the lease's unexpired term is quite short.

Understood, i appreciate your responses and i will be in touch in the new year.

[John_S6 10]

Looks like I'm dealing with these jokers now. They seem to have taken over my leasehold - I've had no contact for ground rent requests for a few years now, the previous landowner (or whatever the correct terminology is) always requested and was paid the ground rent promptly for the 30 years I've lived there, and today received a letter out of the blue from Coppen requesting £100+. However, most of this amount seems to be unspecified - there's a "balance brought forward" charge of £80+ which is far more than what the £12pa ground rent would have cost and a £12 admin fee for "overdue accounts", plus the ground rent charge for this year - but how can I have paid this before when I didn't even know the landowner had changed and had received no notification of this nor any requests for the ground rent in previous years?

 

I'm quite happy to pay what I owe, i.e. the £12pa ground rent, I'm also happy to pay the backdated ground rent (I'm guessing about 3-4 years worth). But why should I pay their random admin charges and then the tacked on amount as well?  I'm thinking of just sending them a cheque to cover this year's rent and requesting a breakdown of the balance brought forward charge as I'm happy to pay the ground rent portion of that but no more.  Is this the best course of action (the alternative being rolling over and letting them rip me off), or will I be added to what seems like a long list of people that Coppen never respond to?

Edited February 10, 2020 by John_S6

[geared 311]

Have they sent you the payment request in the correct format?  If not it's totally meaningless.

 

Demand a breakdown of charges and familiarise yourself with what it is you're required to pay, then you'll know if they're ripping you off.

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

4 hours ago, geared said:

Have they sent you the payment request in the correct format?  If not it's totally meaningless.

 

Yes re both aspects, as to which see the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/15/contents

 

GROUND RENT: demand must comply with s.166 format/information.

ADMINISTRATION FEES: demand must provide s.158 information.

 

But Coppen does not comply with either provision.

[iwbsheff 10]

"But Coppen does not comply with either provision."

 

...and nobody cares! 

 

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

Plenty of people care- not only tenants (leaseholders) but also their solicitors.

BUT this is the problem: enforcement action is expensive too.

[iwbsheff 10]

Jeffrey, my apologies for being a bit facetious.  I know you do some sterling work in this area and of course hit the nail on the head re the costs of enforcement. 

 

I did raise it with my MP once and their response was very much "you're on the right side of the law so ignore them". They failed to see the bigger issue of the anxiety caused and a local company (in my opinion) operating on the bounds of acceptability (I'm trying not be be libellous here).    

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

Tenants (leaseholders) might also find themselves 'over a barrel' if a proposed sale is jeopardised by Coppen's demands.