Notice of Charge & Assignment Landlord Fees

richdeniro

Hi There,

I completed on a new leasehold flat just before Christmas whereby a lease extension was tied to the purchase.

I have received a letter from the freeholder of the property stating they have not been formally notified of the change of ownership in accordance with the term of the lease.

They have requested I send them a Notice of Assignment and Notice of Charge - I assume this is something that my solicitor needs to send them?

They have also requested £100 registration fee per notice so I now owe them £200.

I just thought I would check but I assume I haven't got a leg to stand on regarding these fees - I have looked through the lease and it does say in the schedule where the ground rent is listed that: 'A reasonable registration fee not less than £100 per document subject to registration and such registration shall be effected with the Landlord and the registration fee shall be payable to the Landlord'.

I did notice that attached to the letter that they sent me was a breakdown of my rights regarding Admin charges and it mentioned that I have the right to ask for a 'First Tier Tribunal' as to whether a administration charge is payable and the amount that I should pay. Is it worth going through this route?

Thanks in advance.

anselld

Notice of Charge only applies if you have a mortgage (presumably you do).
Otherwise there does not seem to be any sensible alternative.
First Tier Tribunal is highly unlikely to overturn a reasonable fee which is clearly stated in the Lease.

More to the point, why was your Solicitor deficient in not pointing this out prior to exchange and indeed not serving the required notices at completion?

Flat_Eric

Yes it is something your solicitor should do for you.

Hard to know whether the fees can be appealed though.

Were the fees detailed on your completion statement?

richdeniro

Flat_Eric wrote: »

Yes it is something your solicitor should do for you.

Hard to know whether the fees can be appealed though.

Were the fees detailed on your completion statement?

I didn't think to check the completion statement and both are listed there and charged so I guess I have already paid them and it is down to the solicitor to sort it out with the management company?