Freeholder charge for change of deed

Stefan_Lesik

Hi there
I'm in the process of building a side return kitchen extension on my leasehold ground floor flat. I've applied for planning permission which has been granted.

However, my freeholder claims my lease prohibits such work being carried out and has quoted £4000 (orginally £6000) to change the deed and grant us permission.

My lease states (I quote) "Not during said term: Erect or instal permit to be erected or installed on the demised premises or any additional buildings chimney of flue any engine whether driven by steam oil electric energy or otherwise".

This charge seems to be extremely high considering the small about of work involved to change the deed.

Is this reasonable? Should I just accept the fee and pay it? Is this type of thing regulated or can they just charge what they want?

Many thanks

brightontraveller

They can charge what’s stipulated in the lease, People forget that freeholder becomes responsible for it e.g higher insurance or roof leaks, painting etc Typically cost then becomes the responsibility of freeholder who in turn passes this onto leaseholders so its not just about changing the odd word here and there on the lease so to speak If your not sure about the lease ask your solicitor.

Stefan_Lesik

How can the freeholder become responsible for it when I pay the buidlings insurance? Our buildings insurance premium is also very high because it has to be from a provider approved by the freeholder.

There is nothing in the lease that mentions a fee. I've included what the lease says above with regards to this. I've also consulted my solicitor who has just highlighted the quote above.

brightontraveller

Stefan_Lesik wrote: »

How can the freeholder become responsible for it when I pay the buidlings insurance? Our buildings insurance premium is also very high because it has to be from a provider approved by the freeholder.

There is nothing in the lease that mentions a fee. I've included what the lease says above with regards to this. I've also consulted my solicitor who has just highlighted the quote above.

Ditto saying fee wouldn't be charged....

Do you believe they cant charge for additions to “there” building the clue is its not your building etc its "there’s " do you not understand the basics of freeholder/ leaseholder ?

If there is no stipulation within lease unusual but not impossible most charge % of increase in value that the extension adds to your leasehold plus any legal fee re-drawing lease etc ,

Don’t know what you solicitor is doing there clearly not very good or knowledgeable otherwise they would advise you correctly,

Extension may also increase insurance e.g. higher rebuild cost? It becomes the freeholders you don't take it with you when you move ?

Stefan_Lesik

brightontraveller wrote: »

Do you believe they cant charge for additions to “there” building the clue is its not your building etc its "there’s " do you not understand the basics of freeholder/ leaseholder ?

Of course I accept the fact that they have a right to charge for this, my question was whether this fee is reasonable.

brightontraveller

Stefan_Lesik wrote: »

Of course I accept the fact that they have a right to charge for this, my question was whether this fee is reasonable.

[FONT=&quot]Unfortunately if not defined within the lease to a extent it becomes subjective and that tends to only be answered if you start legal route, If freeholders is knowledgeable you can be sure that they will get maximum out of it fair/ reasonable has no influence at all...[/FONT]

casper_g

It's hard to be sure without seeing it in context, but the quoted text doesn't seem to have anything to do with building an extension.

The text is a bit garbled (e.g. missing apostrophes, "of" in place of "or") but seems to be saying either:
1. You can't put up any "engine" on the chimney or flue of either "the demised premises" or of "any additional buildings"; or
2. You're not allowed to put up chimneys or flues or engines, whether that's on the demised premises or on any additional buildings.

Was this text extracted from a digitised version of the document? Do you have access to the original?

That said, it is usual for a freeholder to have to give permission for an extension. And it's usual for a fee to be charged.

Kynthia

casper_g wrote: »

It's hard to be sure without seeing it in context, but the quoted text doesn't seem to have anything to do with building an extension.

The text is a bit garbled (e.g. missing apostrophes, "of" in place of "or") but seems to be saying either:
1. You can't put up any "engine" on the chimney or flue of either "the demised premises" or of "any additional buildings"; or
2. You're not allowed to put up chimneys or flues or engines, whether that's on the demised premises or on any additional buildings.

Was this text extracted from a digitised version of the document? Do you have access to the original?

That said, it is usual for a freeholder to have to give permission for an extension. And it's usual for a fee to be charged.

I think it's very common for legal documents not to include punctuation like commas.

The lease states you can erect any building, as well as the other items not relevant in this case. You do not own any of the building so again it's not a surprise you can't change the building. So it seems if you want to do so you need the lease to say it's okay and/or change your demised premises to include the additional bit of building. The freeholder is charging to do this. Your solicitor shoukd be advising you whether they can charge that high or go to lease.org.

casper_g

Kynthia wrote: »

The lease states you can erect any building

Did you mean "can't erect any building"?

I just don't think the passage quoted says anything about erecting buildings. It is all about engines.

It says that during the term of the lease you must neither [erect/install] nor [permit to be erected/installed] any [engine whether driven by steam oil electric energy or otherwise]. The location where engines can't be put is the [demised premises] or [any additional buildings, chimneys or flues].