WARNING: any Sheffield leasehold property owners?

[Caryh 10]

Sorry its been so long before i replied about my situation.

 

Estates and management were fine about the money being returned by the bank, and said it was OK for us to send a cheque for the ground rent, no problems at all!

 

 

It turns out the bank ( Alliance and Leicester ) had misread the sortcode and put in on their system wrong.

 

The most amazing thing was no mention of late fees or anything, maybe they are finally realising being threatening isnt the best way to get people to pay.

 

 

[chill 10]

Interesting thread. I've got a leasehold property with Estates & Management Limited but fortunately when I bought the house my excellent solicitor talked me through all the scams such companies try and pull off and advised me how to avoid them. As it happens, the company has promptly sent me a demand for the £1.50 rent, and I've promptly paid, so there's been no problems.

It is frustrating though, the list of things prohibited or requiring permission is pretty long.

[Lights2310 10]

Hi,

 

I took the advice of an earlier posting and contacted E&M so that I could set up a standing order, which went fine.

 

Then on Friday I received a letter from E&M detailing the £5 per year ground rent fee and on the bottom a freehold offer if £700 plus £5. I thought this a little odd, as I had to request the cost in the past.

 

There was another section to the letter titled Leasehold Questionnaire. On the questionnaire there are a load of question around correct ownership details, what the property is, is the property being rented out, can we contact you, are you paying ground rent for more than one property finishing with Administrative charges – your rights and obligations.

 

The one that concerns me is:

 

Have you or any previous owners made any alterations to the property within the last 12 years? YES/NO the majority of lease/conveyances stipulate that you should gain the consent of the Landlord before any alterations may be made to your property, this includes the installation of satellite dishes and windows. Should any alterations be made to the property without consent you will be in breach of your lease/conveyance, which could result in the forfeiture of your lease. Consent is available retrospectively. Please list below alterations that you, or previous owners, have made to this property.

 

What I would like to know is has anyone else received a similar letter and their thoughts. And if consent has to be granted for the likes of windows and satellite dishes were does it end.

 

I have no idea what the previous owner altered in there time at my house and in the last 3 years when I moved in all the alterations that I have made have been in the house not outside.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Pipine 10]

I thought the only things you had to tell the leaseholder about were things that altered the footprint of the building - like a conservatory or extention??

 

Don't they own the land and you own the building or have I misunderstood the whole thing?

 

I have a leasehold problem with my house - I haven't had any demands for ground rent payment since I moved in 2 years ago and I've written to the address on my lease and had no reply. I refuse to send a cheque to an address that I can't get a response from.. My ground rent is supposed to be £12 every six months so I'm well behind on it but if I don't know who to pay exactly how can I do anything? I thought they had to send out requests for payment by law now?

 

I'm keeping all my correspondance and hoping they reply soon.

[Lights2310 10]

Hi Anne23,

 

I also thought that the only thing I would need to seek permission from the landlord would be if I were to build a conservatory or some other extension on the land.

 

According to my letter this is not the case, I am thinking of erecting a wrought iron fence around my property but the letter implies that I need authorisation from E&M.

 

What about a shed! Like I said before were does it end. I don’t have a list of Do’s and Don’ts.

 

There is some legal jargon on the foot of the letter that may help you, it states:

 

Notes For Landlords.

 

1.If you send this notice by post, address it to the leaseholder at the dwelling in respect of which the payment is due, unless he has notified you in writing of a different address in England and Wales which he wishes to be given notice under section 166 of the commonhold and leasehold reform act2002.

2.This date must not be either less than 30 days or more than 60 days after the day on which the notice given or before that on which the leaseholder would be liable to make the payment in accordance with the lease.

3.Include this statement only if the date for payment is the same as the date determined in accordance with the lease.

[WTAW 10]

Any one wanting to know who the owner of the land their property stands on could check with the Land Registry. http://www.landreg.gov.uk. If the Land is registered it will show on a search. On the home page there is a section called land registry on line all you need to do is enter your post code and it will bring all the entries it has. Your property will show as a leasehold and the land (if registered) will show as freehold. You can then purchase a copy of the entry in the Land Registry for £2.00. This will then tell who the owner is. You could then contact the owner direct if you are having problems with a management company.

[sassy_1 10]

Hi Everyone

 

In response to Lights2310, we have received the 'new style rent demand' with the questionnaire. How are you supposed the know what the previous owners have done to the property, and if they did do something, are we now responsible for it? Our ground rent is £30 p.a. and they are asking for £1700 to buy the lease, (including solicitors fees) supposed to be a limited offer but it's been on the last 3 requests!! Luckily we haven't had any problems with E&M but I'm starting to worry now. Please keep posting your updates

[Pipine 10]

I did the Land Registry search and my freehold was sold on to another Estate management company in hunters bar just after I bought my house.. nice of them to tell me!!!

 

So now I have all the same letters to write to the address I got off the land registry documents... I left them a voicemail message but have had no reply.

 

Why does no-one want my ground rent??

[Musey 10]

My lease was sold to a company in Hunters Bar without my being notified. I totally forgot that I hadn't received the usual invoice from my previous ground landlords and did not pay 1 year. I did not get an invoice from the new landlords until I owed 2 years they helpfully smacked on a few extra charges not too much though (about £20) and after speaking to my solicitor she advised just paying it so I did. Buggars could of at least told me they'd bought my lease!!!

 

I'm tempted to ask what they would want for my lease as it only has about 120 years left on it.

[sassy_1 10]

I wondered when it was going to happen to me, well it finally has!! Estates and Management haven't sent me my usual 6 month demand for ground rent. This morning I received an arrears letter, but it seems they may be coming to their senses and haven't slapped on any charges. If I pay within 14 days there will be no extra charge.

I phoned to tell them I hadn't received my bill and got some moron on the other end who just grunted but I suppose the phone operators are sick of hearing this. Well, I've sent my cheque, whats betting the next step is they claim they haven't received it!!!!

[maggie389 10]

I thought the only things you had to tell the leaseholder about were things that altered the footprint of the building - like a conservatory or extention??

 

Don't they own the land and you own the building or have I misunderstood the whole thing?

 

I have a leasehold problem with my house - I haven't had any demands for ground rent payment since I moved in 2 years ago and I've written to the address on my lease and had no reply. I refuse to send a cheque to an address that I can't get a response from.. My ground rent is supposed to be £12 every six months so I'm well behind on it but if I don't know who to pay exactly how can I do anything? I thought they had to send out requests for payment by law now?

 

I'm keeping all my correspondance and hoping they reply soon.

 

we bought a flat last year an ex council , and we only own the inside of the building they own the outside as we are leasehold

[vision 10]

Any one wanting to know who the owner of the land their property stands on could check with the Land Registry. http://www.landreg.gov.uk. If the Land is registered it will show on a search. On the home page there is a section called land registry on line all you need to do is enter your post code and it will bring all the entries it has. Your property will show as a leasehold and the land (if registered) will show as freehold. You can then purchase a copy of the entry in the Land Registry for £2.00. This will then tell who the owner is. You could then contact the owner direct if you are having problems with a management company.

 

Am I doing something wrong?

I followed the instructions but it only told me that I am the owner. It didn't mention who owned the lease.

Our previous leaseholder died and no-one has contacted me for over 2 years.