Leasehold extension valuation survey costing £1,860

mike5678

Hi all,

I'm extending the lease on my flat by 90 years. We are in the final stage and about to complete. The premium is £16,000 and the new value of the flat is about £222,000.

As I know I am liable for the freeholders reasonable legal costs. The final statement has just come through. The fees are £900 for the freeholders solicitors costs and £1,860 for the freeholders surveyors costs.

It was only a lease valuation survey, he was here for about 15 minutes having a little look in each room. I think that this is unreasonable and I have indeed challenged it through my solicitor and still waiting on a response.

I need to complete on the lease as I'm selling the flat and we are ready to exchange once the lease is extended. I'm expecting them to come back trying to justify this cost, is there any way that I can fight it?

Could I just refuse to pay such a price and send over a reasonable amount of say £500 (which is still very generous I think) and still complete on the lease? Much like in the way that if you were unsatisfied with the quality of food in a restaurant you could leave a payment that you felt the food was worth.

Could this happen and leave it open for him to pursue me for the remainder through the small claims court should he wish? I feel that I could defend this action as I don't think anyone could call £1,860 a reasonable amount to charge for a valuation survey, as I could quite easily evidence an average cost for a valuation survey at around £250-350.

Any help/advice/experience appreciated.

starsky27

Hi,
You are right £1860 for a lease extension survey is a rip off. I'm surprised the freeholder never made you aware of the cost before you went ahead with the lease extension process. We are in the exact same situation as you in regards to having a extension on a lease while selling and our costs are £750 for legals and £500 for the survey. We had to pay up front for the survey before it was carried out. If I was in your position I would be worried that any refusal to pay could result in the extension of lease not being completed. This would of course cause problems with your sale.
I'm afraid I can't give you anymore specific advice but I'm sure someone more experienced with the lease extension process will answer your question .

Good luck anyway.

Mark

mart.vader

This is for a VALUATION not a survey ! !

When I had a lease extension VALUATION, back in 2000 or so, the "VALUER" was there for 20 mins or so, tried to take some photos, but his camera didn't work, then when he did his "expert report" he said the flat was single glazed, although it's double glazed. This report said things like "there was no evidence of the age of the boiler" - Of course, there wasn't - as he didn't ask for any evidence. He was actually the estate agent, who also was the freeholder, (via a nominally separate company.) He tried to charge £440 for the valuation, which took place 5 months after he had returned the Counter offer (containing his estimate of the premium).

I ignored his invoices. He took me to small claims court. When we got to court, the Judge merely said that ALL matters relating to leasehold extensions had to be heard at the LVT, and transferred the matter to LVT. The LVT agreed that the valuation MUST be done in the two months between the initial offer and the Counter offer, however they allowed him to charge £220 for his guesstimate of the premium. He lied his way through the whole process, falsified his invoice, etc. The LVT really don't like to kick @rse (more's the pity !)

In short, at that time, under the 1993 Act, valuations had to be done within 2 months of the initial offer, professionally and impartially, to provide a value for the Counter Offer, in order for them to charge a reasonable fee. You are only liable for freeholders reasonable costs between Initial notice and application to the LVT. The FH in my case tried to claim for taxi fares to the LVT ! I'm surprised he didn't claim for a lunchtime sandwich ! Your solicitor will need to check that this all still applies. £1860 sounds very much like a rip-off too far !

BTW Starsky, if you go via the LVT you shouldn't have to pay the valuation fee until the LVT have ruled what it should be.

mike5678

He was here no more than 15 minutes, didn't take any pictures or anything. All he provided was a premium price.

mart.vader

mike5678 wrote: »

He was here no more than 15 minutes, didn't take any pictures or anything. All he provided was a premium price.

OK, What about the other things ? eg. was it after the initial notice but before the counter notice ? Could he reasonably describe his work a a professional valuation ?

If you can at this point, don't pay it, go via the LVT and dispute the fee.

http://www.lease-advice.org/