Residential Flats & Lease Extensions - Up to Date Guidance with Paul Tobias

Introduction

Following the report by the Law Commission on Leasehold reform, and particularly lease extensions, this is an area of the law that will be undergoing substantial change.

For now, you need to be familiar with the technical rules as they presently exist. For your clients, a lease extension is crucial as it can affect their investment, value of their home and harm saleability.

The Leasehold Reform Act provides for the grant of a new lease for a term of 90 years, plus the present unexpired term, ground rent free. There are detailed formal procedures from initial preparation right through to registration. Miss an important step and it can all too easily end with an angry client and a potential claim!

During this webinar, we will examine the statutory requirements and review important cases to help you avoid problems or at least recognise when you see one.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Land Registry requisitions commonly raised on lease extension applications and how to avoid them
• Land Registry guidance and your application to register, including what to do about your client's mortgage on the existing leasehold title
• The proposed new Housing Complaints Resolution Service and its effect on landlords and tenants
• Law Commission Recommendations for simplifying lease extension procedures and unify with freehold enfranchisement
• The application form and what are reasonable costs, checking qualification and starting the process
• Assessing the premium payable, collecting information and establishing the finance
• Preparing the tenant's notice, common errors, the deposit, the landlord's counter-notice, assignment of the application, personal representatives, absent landlords
• Terms of the new lease, procedures and statutory time limits
• Informal extensions by agreement outside of the Act
• The Leasehold Reform (Amendment) Act and illustrative cases including:
• Mundy v Trustees of the Sloane Stanley Estate - the Court of Appeal establishing valuation criteria favouring the landlords - a landmark case failing to slash extension costs
• Villarosa v Ryan - rights of executors of deceased lessees to assign the benefit of the notice
• Kateb v Howard de Walden Estates - the extent to which a competent landlord can bind an intermediate landlord by an agreement reached with the enfranchising tenant
• Whitehall Court London Ltd v The Crown Estate Commissioners - the ‘No-Act’ assumption
• Will the terms of the extended lease have to include a provision in the existing lease for occupation by the lessee and family only?
• If the landlord employs an in-house solicitor to deal with the extension how are the costs worked out?
• Can the landlord claim costs for investigating the rights of the lessees, obtaining a valuation of the flat as well as the conveyancing costs?
• The importance of a landlord effectively serving the counter-notice

This webinar was recorded on 10th March 2020