New Rules Affecting Leasehold Property Sales
By Katherine Rose of Rubric Lois King, offering professional leasehold conveyancing Birmingham.
The Government is to introduce a £240 cap on fees for leaseholders looking to obtain information from freeholders and managing companies. In addition, there will be a 15 working day turnaround to respond to such enquiries.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced that freeholders and managing agents will be given a maximum of 15 days to respond to questions from leaseholders who wish to sell their homes. They will also be restricted to charging a maximum fee of £200 (plus VAT) for providing this information.
Frequent Delays and Exorbitant Fees
In most cases, leaseholders will need to obtain various pieces of information from their freeholder and/or managing agent in order to sell their home. Freeholders and managing agents however often take significant and unnecessary delays in providing this information. As a result, this can cause the leaseholder difficulties in progressing with their sale. Not only are they taking advantage of leaseholders in terms of time wasting, but freeholders and managing agents also tend to charge exorbitant fees for providing this information. They do this on the basis that they can simply charge what they want. In some cases, leaseholders are finding themselves reluctant to sell their home at all due to the difficulties and costs they will be faced with.
Selling Leasehold Properties
These changes will enable leaseholders to obtain the information they need quickly and on a more cost-effective basis. Subsequently the process of selling leasehold properties will be improved.
Real Need for Reform
This reform comes in the wake of the Government’s commitment to end the exploitative, oppressive and unfair leasehold practices in today’s modern market. Undoubtedly, there has been an increasing issue with leaseholders in general being taken advantage of. This has called for a significant need for change. Whilst the legislation still needs to be passed, the intended reform will likely prove greatly beneficial for leasehold homeowners.
Rubric Lois King, Leasehold Conveyancing Birmingham
For professional assistance with all leasehold conveyancing matters please contact our Property Team at RLK. Call 0121 450 7800 or send an email to: enquiries@rlksolicitors.com.
* This article does not present a complete or comprehensive statement of the law, nor does it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to provide information on issues that may be of interest. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in any particular case.*
