fee for completing leasehold property enquiries form?

japonicaf

Hi - I am secretary of the freehold/management company that manages our house of five leasehold flats, with each leaseholder having a share of the freehold. We have had around a year of difficulites regarding the top floor leaseholder, who had removed his ceiling and appropriated the loft space - not demised to his flat - to increase the height of his flat, had installed a wooden uncarpeted floor contrary to the lease, and had not got authorisation for any of the structural alterations carried out. We had to sort all this out. He balked at going through a valuation of the loft space by a Valuation Surveyor, and rebuilt the ceiling that he had taken down. Even now the situation is not wholly satisfactory: the carpet installed appears to be of the thinnest possible for example (he undertook to show us details in advance, but failed to do this).

The flat is now being sold and the sale has reached the stage where I, as secretary of our management company, have been sent a detailed questionnaire, which I understand is a more detailed version of an LPE1 form, ie Leasehold Properties Enquiry form. I was sent this by the seller's solicitor, on behalf of the buyer's solicitor. I have started trying to fill it in but feel I need legal advice as regards some of the technicalities, and particularly the section on "any disputes? Please give full details."
Is it usual for a soliciior to assist in the filling in of the form? And bearing in mind the cost of legal advice we need to seek, what sort of fee is it customary to charge the seller of the flat for filling in the form, to include our legal expenses? His solicitor just says "a small fee" without specifying. We do not have a regular company solicitor, so amateurish has been the running of the company. It's around a dozen years since any of the flats was sold, and this is the first time we have been sent such a detailed questionnaire to fill in.

eddddy

Hi japonicaf

It sounds to me like you are worrying too much about this. The form is just a simple statement of facts - you shouldn't need a solicitor to help you with that. What are you worried might happen?

Regarding 'disputes' - a rule of thumb I use is that if it's just a verbal disagreement it's just a 'discussion', if it becomes a written disagreement (exchanges of letters/emails) it's a 'dispute'.

Regarding the fee - the Land Tribunal says the charge for a Freeholder's consent to let fee should be about £40 - so perhaps this involves a similar amount of work.

fred7777

When I sold me leasehold flat in 2009 there was a similar but simpler form the buyers solicitor sent for the Freeholders (in my case) solicitor to complete.

It consisted of 20 yes or no questions for which the Freeholders solicitor charged £175+vat.

As far as I know these fees are not regulated nor subject to things like Leasehold valuations tribunals and I have yet to find any formal limit on what can be charged.

Why not find a local solicitor, buy an hour of their time to help you go through the form and pass that cost straight on to the seller.

propertyman

It is far more than a statemtn of facts as they involve stating things that people might not like and sue you!

The relvant sections are 6.1 & 6.2

SECTION 6: DISPUTES & ENFRANCHISEMENT
6.1 Are there any on-going forfeiture proceedings in relation Yes No
to the Property?
6.2 Are there any documented unresolved disputes with the Yes No
Lessees of any of the properties in the building in which
this Property is situated?

based on your post 6.1 is no and 6.2 is also no. Though the carpet might be thin, if they complied with the lease terms then it is pointless to say otherwise.

If you think that there is an argument from adjoining owners that there is still noise and that amounts to a breach as nuisance, or that the lease is qualifed such as "good quality or sound deadening", then cheap as chips carpet isnt a remedy and therefore the answer is Yes

eddddy

propertyman wrote: »

It is far more than a statemtn of facts as they involve stating things that people might not like and sue you!
...

I totally disagree - it is statement of facts. And simply because people "might not like" those facts - it gives them no grounds to sue you.

hanwellmike

I am also Secretary of a Company which owns the Freehold to a Block of Flats and have been dealing with these questionnaires for a number of years now. The questionnaires have got longer and longer over the years and very recently I agreed with the other Shareholders that I would use a local solicitor to help with the questionnaire when a Flat is sold. I was not confident that I understood all the questions where legal terms were used e.g. what qualifies as a breach of covenant


The fee was £300 plus VAT which will be paid by the Seller. So no cost to your Company. If you have any doubt about the correctness of your answers, particularly as there is some history with this flat then I would use a solicitor to ensure you (and your Company) are not to blame for any mistakes. My initial reaction is that I would try to ensure that the incoming Purchaser has received all the pertinent information so that when he moves in, he does not have any reason to feel misled.

propertyman

eddddy wrote: »

I totally disagree - it is statement of facts. And simply because people "might not like" those facts - it gives them no grounds to sue you.

What a limited understanding you have.

propertyman

hanwellmike wrote: »

I am also Secretary of a Company which owns the Freehold to a Block of Flats and have been dealing with these questionnaires for a number of years now. The questionnaires have got longer and longer over the years and very recently I agreed with the other Shareholders that I would use a local solicitor to help with the questionnaire when a Flat is sold. I was not confident that I understood all the questions where legal terms were used e.g. what qualifies as a breach of covenant


The fee was £300 plus VAT which will be paid by the Seller. So no cost to your Company. If you have any doubt about the correctness of your answers, particularly as there is some history with this flat then I would use a solicitor to ensure you (and your Company) are not to blame for any mistakes. My initial reaction is that I would try to ensure that the incoming Purchaser has received all the pertinent information so that when he moves in, he does not have any reason to feel misled.

The enquiries have been standardised for a while now and of course the solicitor can look to you for the information on which they rely...

In practice it is better to refuse to reply to enquiries, there is no legal obligation to, and provide a standard pack of the information and issues that are commonly asked and replied to on your terms.