Lease Extension Fee

[Deleted User]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this so apologies if I am posting in the wrong one.
I have contacted my freeholder management company asking for a quote for extending the lease on my flat which I have owned for 20 years. They have come back asking for £150 up front to cover "the administration costs involved in confirming your eligibility, obtaining and reviewing a copy of your lease, and calculating a quote".
is this to be expected just to get a quote from them? Was wanting to try an informal approach to them in the hope of saving fees!
Any information on this would be much appreciated.

Okrib

It is extremely rare that you will save money by negotiating direct with the freeholder. It normally ends up costing you money / making the flat unsellable.


Serve them a Section 42 notice.

eddddy

It's unusual for a freeholder to charge an admin fee for this.

And obviously, the offer they come back with may be ridiculously high.

In these circumstances I think I would just make them a reasonable offer for the extension (for an extra 90 years on the lease at peppercorn ground rent), and if they don't accept (or don't reply), go down the statutory route.