Keith Greensted, MRICS of Warmans Surveying has provided the attached guide with FAQ and illustration of how premiums are calculated for Leasehold Extensions, which will hopefully deal with the main issues and leaseholders rights under the 1993 Leasehold Reform & Urban Development Act (As Amended).
There is also a sample report which is indicative of a typical valuation and advice provided.
For those of you unable to obtain last weeks Islington Gazette dated 6 September 2012.
Please click here IslingtonGazetteLetters06.09.12
The Islington Gazette – Thursday 6 September 2012 , Page 18 – Letters
1) Letter of the week – ‘Legalised money laundering’ by Council
By Dr Brian Potter, Islington Leaseholders Association/
Federation of Islington Tenants Association
2) Leaseholders – A silence that is far from golden
By Kay Newsom, Islington Leaseholders Association member
3) Democracy – Champions must not be chumps
By Richard Rosser Highbury New Park. N5
Send your letters to islingtongazette.letters@archant.co.uk
Islington Leaseholders Meeting
on
Wednesday 12 September 2012
in Islington Town Hall Chambers
at 7 – 9pm
Hosting the meeting:- Dr Brian Potter
Guest Speakers:- A local surveyor advising on Lease Extensions
Please impress upon any other leaseholder’s that you know that it is in their interest to attend these meetings regularly…
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Islington Gazette reports calls for investigation into Islington Coucil “…Islington council had a vested interest in overcharging by contractors …… The message being sent out to contractors by Islington council is ” if you get caught overcharging, don’t worry we will pay the legal cost with public money to defend your actions…..”
Full Islington Gazette articles here
A legitimate arrangement between the council and building firm Kier, which ran from 2000 to 2010, saw each party receive £12.1million of taxpayers’ money over the ten-year period.
The council confirm that the share they received will be spent on building new homes, but many leaseholders, who are charged for repair work, feel they are entitled to some kind of rebate because they believe they paid their share of the full estimate, not the actual cost.
Full Islington Gazette article articles here
Have you received a letter from Home Ownership recently on this topic?
‘Leaseholders have a duty to ensure the from door to their front door is fire and smoke resistant (for up to 30 minutes)’
‘London Fire Brigade may take action to enforce the required improvements’.
Have you wondered what you should do?
When I rang for advice, the Fire Brigade duty officer knew nothing about it and the project team listed in the letter were on annual leave.
This is what I did.
I measured the width of my door. It was the required 44 mm thick.
The door was of solid wood when I knocked on it several times.
I bought a PERCO-Invisible Door Closer for £15.58 at 278 Holloway Road, and found it in the Highbury Barn hardware shop.
My carpenter is coming to fit this closer as soon as he can after I come back from holiday myself.
Let us see what more Home Ownership want us leaseholders to do to our doors.
Miranda Perfitt
Disclaimer: This is for your info only, you follow it at your own risk, as the ILA are not insured to give advice.
This is a precis of the ruling earlier this year by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal regarding work that took pace on the Tremlett Grove Estate. The case featured on the Dispatches programme broadcast on Monday 20th August 2012.
It is written by a layperson, not a lawyer, and should not be relied upon for legal use or to encourage you to take legal action. It is written for your information.
If you wish to dispute your bill in any courts or at the LVT, the ILA strongly suggest you should always seek legal advice from lawyers experienced in UK leasehold contracts. You can find the original decision at the Lands Tribunal website.
Summary of Tremlett Grove findings
The actual costs involved are detailed in Appendix 1 on page 27 of the actual LVT ruling
From The Islington Gazette 16.08.2012
Days before a TV expose about leaseholder overcharging featuring Islington Council, a group of Islington Residents hope that their battle is at an end after the council was refused permission to appeal a ruling that it blew £1 million on housing improvements.
Mondays edition of investigative channel 4 show Dispatches features the Tremlett Grove Estate in Archway which was the subject of a leaseholder valuation tribunal ( LVT) in April. It found that the council paid over the odds for work on two blocks.
The ruling meant the council will have to refund around £16000 to each of the 14 leaseholders affected. more council lose appeal again
Dispatches TV pgm c4 -Monday 20 August 8pm – The truth about leaseholds
(set your video recorders)
Islington Council ( PFI) managing agent for street properties “Partners” have recently said that they will only obtain Listed Building Consents (LBC)/ planning permissions on works that they have done on properties in conservation areas or that are listed buildings IF the matter is brought to the attention of Partners directly by the resident concerned.
Islingtons Planning Conservation department on the other hand says that ” that unauthorised works carried out to listed buildings is a criminal offence. As such persons with a material interest in the property may be liable to prosecution”
Leaseholder may also find that they have an issue if they ever wish to sell their properties, and they need to obtains the the LBC’s to give to potential buyers. Trying to get consents from Partners in 2 or 10 year after works have been done may be tricky.
The ILA can’t give advice, so this shouldn’t be taken as such, but If your a leaseholder in a Conservation Area or Listed building you may want to check with the Islington Council conservation section of the Planning Department. whether the Major Works that Partners have done on your property should have had or require LBC., and if so bring it directly to Partners attention.
Please also let the ILA know if the Councils planning department confirm that council’s agents ( e.g. Partners,[the former] HFI etc) or Housing Property Services have done works to your property without getting the appropriate consents. contact
Thursday, 17th November 2011 from newsontheblock.com
In a landmark case that will undoubtedly be a gamechanger for the property management industry, the Upper Tribunal has decided that managing agents must consider the financial impact of major works on lessees and whether to phase works so they become more affordable. More
Upper Tribunal Decision
LVT Decision link