Leasehold reform

Our specialist Leasehold Reform Team has been involved in a number of high-profile cases in this area. Highlights include:

• acting for a landlord who owned the freehold of a building with five flats – four held by long-lease tenants and one owned by our client. The flats’ owners collectively purchased the building’s freehold from our client and issued proceedings. With the assistance of our client’s valuer, an acceptable premium was agreed for the purchase, including retention of the garden’s freehold and a long lease of the client’s flat
• acting for the landlord of a tenant seeking to extend their flat into loft space above. We served the requisite notices under the Landlord & Tenant legalisation and dealt with the preparation and grant of the new lease, including necessary changes to the service charge provisions
• acting for two tenants in the same building seeking to extend leases of their flats. This involved:
  • collaboration with each tenants’ surveyors for guidance on the anticipated premium for the extended lease term
  • preparing and serving appropriate notices in accordance with Landlord & Tenant legislation and handling applicable statutory procedures
  • ensuring both tenants’ leases were prepared in the same format with identical terms

• advising on the collective rights of tenants to join together and buy the freehold of their building (‘collective enfranchisement’)
• advising on the rights of tenants to join together and take over management of their building (‘right to manage’)
• advising on the obligation to make an offer to qualifying tenants to acquire the freehold of their building before agreeing to sell to a third party in respect to specific disposals (‘rights of pre-emption’)
• advising on lease extension
• making and defending applications to both the Court and Tribunal in the extension of long residential leases

Houses

• advising on a tenant’s right to buy the freehold of their house (‘enfranchisement’)
• advising on the extension of long leases of houses

Mixed-use premises

• providing strategic advice to landlords and developers in respect of mixed-use developments
• making and defending applications to the Court and Tribunal in relation to service charges
• advising on the management of mixed-use developments