WARNING: any Sheffield leasehold property owners?

[cmpaterson 10]

Here goes...

 

We bought a house on the Willows estate in Firth Park in Feb 07. The lease documents we received during the conveyance said our lease was owned by Barratt. Out of the blue, we received a 'reminder' from Estates and Management Limited to pay £80. According to Barratt they bought the lease from them in December '06. We had NO CORRESPONDENCE WHATSOEVER from either party prior to this letter. So far so typical.

 

The 'Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002' Chapter 15, 166 'Requirement to notify long leaseholders that rent is due' states that E&M Ltd legally have to send us a letter of notification in a prescribed format -including the amount of rent we owe and when it is due. Their reminder for £80 was definitely not in the prescribed format, and presumably not valid. We know our rent is £90 per annum and that the previous owner paid up until end of Jan '07. Also, the rent won't increase until 2027.

 

A phone call to them proved fruitless; they were vague about the period covered by the £80 charge and despite assuring me there were no hidden admin charges I was still worried. They told me to send them a cheque for the £80 asap.

 

Fearing we were about to be stung for some 'administrative charges' concealed in their unexplained figure of £80, we replied with a letter quoting the 'Requirement to notify long leaseholders that rent is due', ie that they had to issue us with the official notification or we don't have to pay them a penny. To cover ourselves, we also included a cheque for the annual ground rent of £90 and asked to set up a standing order to avoid future complications.

 

Fingers crossed they will back off and accept the annual payment of £90. From what I've read on these forums they were almost certainly trying it on.

 

As if this wasn't enough, they want £250 to allow us to add a conservatory!! (What is the legal basis for this charge?!)

 

One more thing that REALLY bugged me - the reminder letter was dated 24th sept but only arrived 6 days later, on sat 30th! It said we had 7 days to pay (or presumably face late payment charges). Being a weekend there was no way we could have paid in time!!

 

To sum up I just want to know if any one has had a similar experience with Estates and Management Limited recently and any advice you can offer?

[outerlimits 10]

"As if this wasn't enough, they want £250 to allow us to add a conservatory!! (What is the legal basis for this charge?!) "

 

Hi,

this is the for the "licence to alter" your lease- basically a legal document which will be stored with your lease to include details of the conservatory. The fee is around the correct standard amount for a solicitor to draw the document up etc

[cmpaterson 10]

Cheers Chris,

 

Appreciate the insight. Has laid some worries to rest!

 

Chris.

[oggi47 10]

Anybody tell me how much it would cost to go to a leasehold valuation tribunal, if you are unhappy with the price you have beeb asked to buy your freehold? How does it work and how long does it take?

[Fitz 10]

Here goes...

 

We bought a house on the Willows estate in Firth Park in Feb 07. The lease documents we received during the conveyance said our lease was owned by Barratt. Out of the blue, we received a 'reminder' from Estates and Management Limited to pay £80. According to Barratt they bought the lease from them in December '06. We had NO CORRESPONDENCE WHATSOEVER from either party prior to this letter. So far so typical.

 

The 'Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002' Chapter 15, 166 'Requirement to notify long leaseholders that rent is due' states that E&M Ltd legally have to send us a letter of notification in a prescribed format -including the amount of rent we owe and when it is due. Their reminder for £80 was definitely not in the prescribed format, and presumably not valid. We know our rent is £90 per annum and that the previous owner paid up until end of Jan '07. Also, the rent won't increase until 2027.

 

A phone call to them proved fruitless; they were vague about the period covered by the £80 charge and despite assuring me there were no hidden admin charges I was still worried. They told me to send them a cheque for the £80 asap.

 

Fearing we were about to be stung for some 'administrative charges' concealed in their unexplained figure of £80, we replied with a letter quoting the 'Requirement to notify long leaseholders that rent is due', ie that they had to issue us with the official notification or we don't have to pay them a penny. To cover ourselves, we also included a cheque for the annual ground rent of £90 and asked to set up a standing order to avoid future complications.

 

Fingers crossed they will back off and accept the annual payment of £90. From what I've read on these forums they were almost certainly trying it on.

 

As if this wasn't enough, they want £250 to allow us to add a conservatory!! (What is the legal basis for this charge?!)

 

One more thing that REALLY bugged me - the reminder letter was dated 24th sept but only arrived 6 days later, on sat 30th! It said we had 7 days to pay (or presumably face late payment charges). Being a weekend there was no way we could have paid in time!!

 

To sum up I just want to know if any one has had a similar experience with Estates and Management Limited recently and any advice you can offer?

 

Our lease is with Estates & Management, touch wood we haven't had a problem so far (4 years). We had quite a large conservatory put on our house last year. I contacted E&M and asked if I needed to do anything as far as the lease goes. All they asked was if I needed planning permission for it, which I didn't, and had a letter from the council to prove it, all they wanted was a copy of the letter and didn't charge me a thing.

As for billing, I receive a bill twice a year with no problem. It also offers me the freehold if I want to buy it for £1700, our ground rent is £30 a year by the way, I usually phone them to pay over the phone but this time I've paid through their web site. http://www.e-m.uk.com Hope this helps

[oggi47 10]

can i ask how much is your house worth and what length of lease do you have left?

The council just sold our lease to a London company who has asked for £3500 to buy!

[Loops 10]

LEASE - Leasehold Advisory Service are brilliant if you need any advice about any aspect of leases, charges etc, their website is:-

 

http://www.lease-advice.org/

[Fitz 10]

can i ask how much is your house worth and what length of lease do you have left?

The council just sold our lease to a London company who has asked for £3500 to buy!

 

Our house is a 3 bedroom detached with a large back garden. We had it valued last year at £240,000. Off the top of my head we have around 200 years left on the lease so at the moment not interested in buying it, unless it increases in price dramatically. The correct price for freehold is £1730 (just checked the letter) which includes their admin fees and land registry fee of £40. It also says that it usually takes between 2 to 3 months to complete. Hope this helps.

[oggi47 10]

Our house is a 3 bedroom detached with a large back garden. We had it valued last year at £240,000. Off the top of my head we have around 200 years left on the lease so at the moment not interested in buying it, unless it increases in price dramatically. The correct price for freehold is £1730 (just checked the letter) which includes their admin fees and land registry fee of £40. It also says that it usually takes between 2 to 3 months to complete. Hope this helps.

thanks Fitz. Sounds good. Ours is a 3 bed semi about £160,000 in value. Looks like you got a good deal.

[topflat29 10]

The price of the freehold ( for a leasehold house in sheffield having ground rent 5 pds and 800 year lease) was recently determined by the Residential Property Tribunal Service ( rpts.gov.uk ) to be 60 pounds. ( 12 times annual ground rent ).

[Suffragette1 10]

Does owning the freehold actually add value to a property though?

[topflat29 10]

In most cases it should help to improve the capital value of the property as buyers prefer to have freehold ( i.e own the property ) compared to leasehold (i.e another company owns the property). You may get 1 or 2 thousand pounds more in a sale and probably selling is quicker which mean saving on mortgage interest payment. No registration charges by landlord company in a sale of the property.

 

Other benefit is that you can make many mods ( e.g extension etc )to the house without having to get landlord's consent and pay their licence fee.