LANDLORD & TENANT
Residential Leasehold Property Services
We provide legal advice to tenants, landlords and managing agents in relation to all aspects of residential leasehold property and Landlord & Tenant Law.
Lease Extensions
A lease gets shorter as time passes. The shorter the lease, the harder your flat is to sell and the less valuable your property becomes. Some mortgage companies even refuse to lend against a lease less than 90 years.
Provided you meet the criteria, the law allows you to extend your lease by 90 years and reduce your ground rent to a peppercorn.
Buying Your Freehold
By a process known as collective enfranchisement, you have a legal right to purchase your freehold.
You and your neighbours can take control, remove the existing management regime and direct the service charge funds as you see fit.
You can also enhance and safeguard the value of your flats by extending the leases to 999 years.
Right to Manage
Leaseholders have a right to manage their own building.
The freeholder’s consent is not required and you do not need to show mismanagement. The right is available whether your landlord is good, bad or indifferent.
By forming a Right to Manage Company, you take control of matters such as repairs, maintenance and insurance premiums.
Right of First Refusal
Before selling a freehold of a block of flats, the landlord must first serve formal notices on the flat owners informing them of his plans to sell, offering the freehold to the flat owners first and giving them reasonable time to consider the offer.
Collectively, the flat owners can take up the offer and buy the freehold.
Service Charges
Sometimes, tensions can arise between those tasked with maintaining and repairing a building (freeholders, right to manage companies, managing agents) and those flat owners expected to pay or contribute towards the costs.
We advise landlords, tenants and managing agents on all service charge issues.
Varying a Lease
Residential leases can last for decades. Sometimes the terms of the lease need to be amended to reflect changes in the law, the block or neighbourhood.
We can assist in varying and updating the terms of your lease to reflect modern drafting techniques or new legal requirements.
For a free no obligation initial consultation call 01202 79 89 17 or email contact@ghwc.co.uk.
