Legal advice

The Islington Leaseholders Association, ILA, is not able to give you legal advice.  We are not trained to do so and do not yet have the funds to offer our own service.

We have put together some suggestions for organisations which may be able to offer you free legal advice.  Remember, while these organisations can help they may not be specialists in leasehold law and will not be familiar with your particular circumstances.
For most of these you will need to provide some documentation, such as a copy of your lease, copy of bills and correspondence if you wish dispute your bills.  You will almost certainly need to contact these organisations to make an appointment.

There is a drop-in session organised by Barristers, on Thursday evenings at 7pm, in St Mary’s Church Upper st.

The ILA advises that you keep as many records as possible, where works or repairs are an issue we suggest that you

• Photograph examples of bad workmanship, inappropriate work and ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots.
• Keep copies of all your correspondence and any paperwork that you are sent.
• Log all phone calls and send a letter to confirm the important details of any phone calls.
• Make sure you have a copy of your lease.

As much as you may feel aggrieved you should remember that the law does not necessarily work in your favour.

LEASE

Address: Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London WIT 7BN
Telephone: 020 7383 9800 Fax: 020 7383 9849
Email: info@lease-advice.org  Website:  www.lease-advice.org
Opening hours: 9.30am-5.00pm or by appointment.

Lease say
“Leasehold advisers are available for telephone advice from 9:30am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday.
If you would like to write to us please include a day-time telephone number in your email or letter.

If you would like to come to our office to get advice in person please note that our advisers are very busy and we are open for visitors by appointment only.
To make an appointment please telephone or email.

Clients who come in for an appointment must bring all relevant documents (for example, their lease) otherwise we may not be able to provide advice.”

Some links to LEASE pages.

S.20 Consultation
for Council and other public sector landlords
http://www.lease-advice.org/councils20frame.htm

Application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal
http://www.lease-advice.org/aplvtframe.htm

LEASE Mediation Service
http://www.lease-advice.org/medmain.htm

Mary Ward Legal Centre

http://www.marywardlegal.org.uk/

Address: 26-27 Boswell Street,  London WC1N  3JZ
Tel : 020 7831 7079

The Mary Ward Legal Centre say

We “provide free legal advice to those on a low income, living or working in London.

We can provide advice and casework in areas of debt, employment, housing and welfare benefits. We may also provide some basic legal advice with general legal problems through our evening ‘pro-bono’ service.

We have solicitors and specialist advisors who may be able to take cases on your behalf.”

College of Law

For further information please telephone 01483 216528 o
Email: ssadvice.centre@lawcol.co.ukThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

College of Law say:

“From September to May our students offer FREE preliminary legal advice.  All advice is given in writing after an interview and under the strict supervision of qualified staff.  Interviews are by prior appointment only after an initial telephone assessment of your case.

If you are a leaseholder and are in dispute with your freeholder over service charges, major works or want to appoint a new managing agent and wish to apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal then our students may be able to represent you in your case. If you are appealing about your rent assessment then our students may be able to represent you at the Rent Assessment Committee.”

Bar Pro Bono Unit

http://www.barprobono.org.uk/

http://www.barprobono.org.uk/?cID=applying_for_help__the_essentials

Bar Pro Bono Unit say:

“All applications to the Unit must be made through a solicitor or advice agency (for example a Citizens Advice Bureau or Law Centre). Advice agencies and solicitors are strongly encouraged to contact us at any point to talk through questions, discuss particular cases, or give us feedback.

All applications must be made on our application form, which can be downloaded from the documents to download page and is also available from the Unit on request.

The Unit can assist with anything a barrister could help with in a paying case including specialist legal advice in writing or in a meeting  and representation at hearings in courts, tribunals, and at mediation.”
Barristers at St Mary’s Church
St Mary’s Church Upper Street
Thursdays at 7pm

As far as we know this is a drop-in advice session run by barristers on a pro-bono (free) basis.  Apparently it’s first come first served, so you should get there early.