Extend Your Lease guide discussion

propertyman

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Are you following the procedure exactly as laid out in the legislation, if so how far have you got, or are you trying to negotiate informally or semi formally?

Who is going to charge you that much for going to the LVT, are you thinking you need to be represented throughout? You don't because the LVT is designed to be user friendly and not prohibitively expensive. Plenty of information on LEASE on what you should expect and should not expect to pay with regards to lease extension and when applying to the LVT http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/.

I am sorry but the OP has been quite clear in that it is the freeholder's surveyor who has "asked" for the costs of the LVT application- not the OP.

Whether it is a negotiated or a statutory extension is irrelevant.

How the LVT functions is irrelevant, any costs related to proceedings in the LVT on this matter are the parties own - s 60(5) LRHUDA 1993.

Fire_Fox

propertyman wrote: »

I am sorry but the OP has been quite clear in that it is the freeholder's surveyor who has "asked" for the costs of the LVT application- not the OP.

Not how I read it
"In addition the freeholder's surveyor has quoted costs of £950. However our surveyor is saying that the charges for going to LVT will be over £1,700."

amandajc

My apologies for not making this clear. We are expecting to be represented by our surveyor through a formal application to the LVT. Our surveyor has quoted us costs of £1,700 to do this.

The figure of £950 I mentioned was the costs the freeholder's surveyor is asking for their work to date in trying to reach an agreement.

My question is whether it is reasonable for our surveyor to ask for £1,700 to take our case to LVT? Is this something we could do ourselves without professional assistance?

Thank you for your comments - any further help would be much appreciated.

richardw

amandajc wrote: »

...we are very reluctant to pay more than £6,000...

What is your surveyor's valuation?

propertyman

It is in theory possible, however while the LVT is relatively informal, they are going to look to you to present a reasonable case and respond to the counter arguments.


As to £1750 the LVT can be pretty stodgy in proceeding and with preparation valuation and attendance, a day has to be allowed, so £1750 is not far off the mark.

If the landlord decides to send his surveyor( at his cost) then you need to understand the notice procedure, should they challenge that, and be able to respond to their argument over the yields, comparables, improvements, marriage values and deferment rates.

This can in some cases be quite complex, especially if the lease is relatively short, which 72 years is.

Perhaps you should
1: ask your surveyor to value it first
2: Look at the various valuation decisions and see if you are comfortable arguing

You might say OMFG or discover a hidden talent for valuations

Fire_Fox

amandajc wrote: »

My apologies for not making this clear. We are expecting to be represented by our surveyor through a formal application to the LVT. Our surveyor has quoted us costs of £1,700 to do this.

The figure of £950 I mentioned was the costs the freeholder's surveyor is asking for their work to date in trying to reach an agreement.

My question is whether it is reasonable for our surveyor to ask for £1,700 to take our case to LVT? Is this something we could do ourselves without professional assistance?

Thank you for your comments - any further help would be much appreciated.

You can represent yourself after plenty of reading and with plenty of evidence. Be sure you have thoroughly researched and understood the statutory lease extension and valuation process - start with the LEASE article on applying to the LVT and the two articles on lease extension and valuation. It is not clear to me what stage you are at, if you have not served notice on your freeholder nor paid for a valuation you are not ready to go to an LVT.
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/

amandajc

Apologies for my late response - I have been away.

We have paid our surveyor for a valuation which she has given as being £78,950 - the freeholders surveyors have agreed this figure

We are still trying to reach an agreement on the price of a lease extension with the freeholders but are considering going to the tribunal if they won't come down below £7,800 which is their current offer.

All the reckoners I have tried on the Internet, including the one on this site, say that we should be paying around £5,000 for the extension.

Thank you for all your comments. It is difficult to know whether to pay to go to tribunal or simply take the hit from what feels a little like a greedy freeholder.

propertyman

Does your valuation show a ground rent subject to increases- the on-line calculators cannot deal with those, and assume the rent will be the same for the years left.

A rent over say 80 years is worth x . If the rent increases over the term, then it worth more to get those future increases- this increases the premium for a lease extension as that premium reflects the landlord's loss of the right to that future income.

If not, it's a question of math, you lose nothing to go to the LVT except time and effort and the application fee ( unless they do something bizarre and increase it! ) or £1700 to chase £2800, a £1100 net saving.

Fire_Fox

amandajc wrote: »

Apologies for my late response - I have been away.

We have paid our surveyor for a valuation which she has given as being £78,950 - the freeholders surveyors have agreed this figure

We are still trying to reach an agreement on the price of a lease extension with the freeholders but are considering going to the tribunal if they won't come down below £7,800 which is their current offer.

All the reckoners I have tried on the Internet, including the one on this site, say that we should be paying around £5,000 for the extension.

Thank you for all your comments. It is difficult to know whether to pay to go to tribunal or simply take the hit from what feels a little like a greedy freeholder.

So you have paid for a valuation of the property only not for the premium as well? Or have both parties given you a breakdown of their calculation of the premium, if so how does their surveyors compare to yours and to the LEASE explanation?
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/document.asp?item=10

AFAIK it's the value of the flat that is the big debating point, it's great the two surveyors agree on that. If the freeholder knows they are being greedy but are banking on you agreeing to get the extension done quickly, they might cave as soon as you apply to the LVT. As already stated going to an LVT is inexpensive and you can represent yourself as long as you have solid evidence. You can also ask for your application to be fast tracked, but I don't know what the criteria for getting that accepted is.
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/document.asp?item=18

richardw

amandajc wrote: »

All the reckoners I have tried on the Internet, including the one on this site, say that we should be paying around £5,000 for the extension.

You need to get this out of the equation, they just ain't professional advice!

It is your surveyor's professional valuation that is important, how much are they saying that you should pay? is it £6000, £6,500, £7,000?