Collective Enfranchisement - long!

PaulF99

Sorry it's a long post, but someone might have the stamina to read and make some comments :


[FONT=&quot]Summary of position

I jointly own two flat leases of out three (ground & 1st floor) in a three-storey semi-detached mid-1860s property in a Conservation Area with an Article 4 Direction (no permitted development rights). The current freeholder bought the freehold together with the lease for the top-floor flat (Flat 3) in 2016. I have lived in the property for around 40 years.

Following various difficulties with the new freeholder, we served a Section 13 Notice in Oct, 2018, offering around £1.8k, as per our Surveyor's recommendation (long leases, low ground-rent, no development value). The Counter Notice came back demanding £218.9k. It was only after I changed surveyor in Feb, 19 (the previous one became curiously uncommunicative for reasons I am yet to determine) that I learnt that the freeholder's claim was based on a small extension to the existing 2nd floor flat (121 sq. ft), and the construction of a new storey on top to create a Flat 4.

After some negotiation we got an offer of:

1) £18k, but with provisos that they can develop the building, get scaffold rights (there are none), and subsume part of the common stairwell into Flat 3. This was turned down

We are now going to Tribunal and the expert evidence submitted by freeholder claims the new flat would be worth £425k, and the extension to the existing flat, £83k. With the various development & finance costs included this gives a Net Site Value of £240k; assuming planning risk of -65%, they are now asking for around £80k.The expert submission says that this is based on the expectation of getting positive planning guidance (which they currently don't have as their Planning Consultant was 'too busy', they claim)

Questions

1) The freeholder appears to have no plans or drawings for the extra storey. In fact they only instructed a surveyor to do elevations & drawings of the building a few days before the expert evidence had to be lodged for the Tribunal. Surely this means that there are no architects drawings, and therefore the costings have not been done by a quantity surveyor and are thus pie-in-the-sky & pure conjecture?

2) I approached the local Duty Planning Officer at the council who said there was almost no chance of gaining PP to add a 4th storey, as it would destroy the roofline and street view & be completely out of balance with its semi the other side. This view is confirmed by other property professionals I have consulted. It appears the freeholder has not submitted a planning application, nor even done a pre-planning consultation at this late stage.

3) As I understand it, a 'hypothetical freehold investor' would value the freehold as at Oct, 2018. At this point all he would see is a building with no planning permission for anything, and with a high risk of PP failing for any major project because of the Conservation Area status, plus no Scaffold rights either. Is this likely to be the view of the Tribunal?

It seems the freeholder is now trying to rush through all the things they should have done a while ago to get ready for the Tribunal. The freeholder is also now claiming they bought the property in 2016 with a view to developing it, which is hard to believe given his lack of preparedness. What are the chances of me succeeding at the Tribunal, and what can I do to strengthen my case?[/FONT]