Solicitor misses date for statutory process of lease extension

sharon31_2

I appointed a solicitor to apply for a lease extension on my flat. The freeholder’s offer is far higher than reasonable so my solicitor advised me that we would have to go to tribunal/statutory process. My solicitor forgot to advise me that there was a deadline to apply after negotiations began. This meant the freeholder then came back with an even higher and final offer, with a shorter lease term. I still have 79 years remaining on the existing lease and cannot accept the freeholders extortionate offer, which is double what it should be.
To the best of my knowledge the only way I can go through the statutory process is to start all over again, but I have already paid out a couple of thousand pounds for valuations and solicitors fees. I’m not in a position to just throw money away and don’t know what to do for the best. Do I have a claim for negligence against my solicitors error? If so, how do I go about this please? I’ve not spoken to my solicitor or freeholder to reject the final offer yet as I don’t want to prejudice my case. I’m in a real quandary and don’t know which way to turn. Any advice would be greatly received. Thank you in advance everyone

jonnygee2

Do I have a claim for negligence against my solicitors error?

So far you haven't really said exactly what the error was. Why was the deadline missed exactly?

It's not clear at this point whether the solicitor was just too slow, or whether they were actually waiting on responses from you and their only error was not telling you about the deadline.

anselld

It is also unclear on what terms the Solicitor was instructed. Were they responsible for executing the whole end-to-end extension process for you or were they simply engaged to execute the legal extension of the deeds on completion of negotIations? What does their letter of engagement state?

Tom99

Was the lease term 80yrs+ when you served the notice?
If you have failed to do your part within the strict timetable your are deemed to have withdrawn your notice.
You cannot make a fresh application until 12mths after the deemed withdrawal date.

da_rule

Couple of things seems unclear in your post.

First, you say that your solicitor advised you that you had to go down the statutory/tribunal process. Does this mean that the original extension was being negotiated informally or had you actually served a s.42 notice?

If you had served the notice, did you actually tell your solicitor to make the application to the tribunal (if it was that obvious that the negotiations weren’t going anywhere)?

sharon31_2

Thank you for your responses. I’ll try to answer your questions below.
I always responded by return and have spent months waiting for the freeholder to reply, via our solicitors.
In the middle of informal negotiations, I received an email from my solicitor apologising that I would have needed to make an application to the first tier Leasehold property tribunal, 6 months from when the freeholder served their original counter notice. My solicitor had not noted this date or advised me of it, so it was missed.
We continued to try and come to an informal agreement, but the freeholder’s offer then increased, even including a cost for me to pay their capital gains tax.
They also rejected the original request to add 90 years to the existing lease of 79 years, offering a new lease of just 125 years and the ground rent to remain the same, rather than a peppercorn rate.
Yes, my solicitor was responsible for the whole process.
This is very much unchartered territory for me, so please bare with me if my information is unclear. I really appreciate all your time and help and will do my best to give as much information as I can. I just don’t know what to do now. Thank you all x

davidmcn

I'm not familiar with the details of the lease extension process, but in general if a solicitor accepts a piece of work and fails to notice a relevant deadline coming up, then yes they'd be liable to you for any loss following on from that. You'd probably be best to go to another solicitor for advice on how to make any claim.

Tom99

sharon31 wrote: »

Thank you for your responses. I’ll try to answer your questions below.
I always responded by return and have spent months waiting for the freeholder to reply, via our solicitors.
In the middle of informal negotiations, I received an email from my solicitor apologising that I would have needed to make an application to the first tier Leasehold property tribunal, 6 months from when the freeholder served their original counter notice. My solicitor had not noted this date or advised me of it, so it was missed.
We continued to try and come to an informal agreement, but the freeholder’s offer then increased, even including a cost for me to pay their capital gains tax.
They also rejected the original request to add 90 years to the existing lease of 79 years, offering a new lease of just 125 years and the ground rent to remain the same, rather than a peppercorn rate.
Yes, my solicitor was responsible for the whole process.
This is very much unchartered territory for me, so please bare with me if my information is unclear. I really appreciate all your time and help and will do my best to give as much information as I can. I just don’t know what to do now. Thank you all x

Do you also have a surveyor acting for you or are you doing the negotiations yourself?
I think the 1st step is a formal complaint to your solicitor saying you hold them responsible for missing the 6mth deadline and see how far that takes you.
The next thing will be quantifying your loss. Is your view of what you could have achieved backed up by a professional RICS opinion?
Since the freeholders current offer is unrealistic it may not be possible to quantify your loss until you have gone through the process a 2nd time which might take 18mths or so since you cannot serve notice for a year.

It's quite possible your solicitor will not accept they were negligent particularly since they seem to only be acting as a post box as far as the negotiations were concerned.

sharon31_2

I used a local estate agent to help with value and negotiations. He spoke to the freeholders surveyor to come up with an offer. This was then inflated by the freeholder. I paid the freeholder for the valuation but no one has ever entered my property and they refused to supply me with a copy. My neighbour also began proceedings to extend his lease, but he sadly died so this was stopped, but I do have a copy of his valuation, which is reasonable. The property has just two dwellings. It appears the freeholder is just very greedy, leaving me to think that tribunal is the only option. Seems I’ll have to wait a year and start all over again. What should I do about the fees I’ve incurred with no outcome? If my solicitor had realised the date to make an application to the tribunal I wouldn’t be in this mess now.
Once again, thank you - it makes such a difference being able to get other people’s opinions

Tom99

Normally a tenant will 1st employ an RICS surveyor to advise on the likely outcome of a formal lease extension and the figure to put in your original section 42 notice.
You then instruct a solicitor to draw up a valid notice and serve it. Once the freeholder serves a counter notice, if you are not happy with the figure, the surveyor negotiates on your behalf making sure you keep to the notice period.
A local estate agent would not normally be an expert on the lease extension valuation method and legislation.

sharon31_2

Thanks for your advice Tom99