extortionate retrospective consent

tronm

I double glazed the windows in my flat a few years back, at that time unaware that permission was needed from the landlord.

I am now trying to sell and they have asked for £2500 for retrospective consent. Is this kind of amount normal and/or allowed?

eddddy

The Admin Charge must be reasonable, and £2500 doesn't sound reasonable.

lease-advice.org says:

What can I do if I disagree with an administration charge?

You have two courses of remedy, depending on whether the charge is variable or fixed in the lease:

- where the charge is variable, you may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a determination of reasonableness. A variable administrative charge is one where the amount of the charge is not specified in the lease or calculated according to a formula specified in the lease.


- where the charge is fixed by the lease or a formula in the lease, you may apply to the Tribunal to vary the lease, on the grounds that the amount specified is unreasonable or that the formula is unreasonable. If the Tribunal is satisfied, it may make an order to vary the terms of the lease, to substitute a reasonable amount or to amend the formula, either as requested by you or as the Tribunal finds appropriate.

link:http://www.lease-advice.org/information/faqs/print_faq.asp?section=10

But unfortunately, some freeholders do the following:

- The freeholder knows you want to sell your flat
- The freeholder knows their proposed charge is unreasonable
- The freeholder knows that taking a case to tribunal could take weeks or months - so you are likely to lose your buyer

- So the freeholder just sits back and hopes you will just pay them £2500, rather than lose your buyer, lose the property you are buying etc.

Shahni

You can still take the matter to the tribunal after completion to challenge the reasonableness of the charges if need be. But for now you're a bit stuffed and don't really have an option but to pay it.