Sublet Registration Fee

pental

I have recently bought a leasehold Buy-To-Let flat, and the tenants moved in a few months ago. I got a letter from the management company requesting to register the sublet with an admin fee of £120. I disagreed the fee, but offered £50 instead on the basis of 1) the lease had written something like £30+VAT for the first 10 years and reasonable amount thereafter; 2) quoting FTT case where FTT ruled that a fee of more than £40+VAT can not be justified as reasonable; 3) Other nearby development charges £50 for registering sublet.

The management company has now turned down my offer and insist I shall pay £120 as requested, and threatened if that's not paid within 28 days, a further admin charge of £60 will be added. 

Please may I check what are my options now? How easy is it to get a third party to look at the case, and assess what's most appropriate fee? What costs are involved in the process? Thanks in advance.

[Deleted User]

pental said:

I have recently bought a leasehold Buy-To-Let flat, and the tenants moved in a few months ago. I got a letter from the management company requesting to register the sublet with an admin fee of £120. I disagreed the fee, but offered £50 instead on the basis of 1) the lease had written something like £30+VAT for the first 10 years and reasonable amount thereafter; 2) quoting FTT case where FTT ruled that a fee of more than £40+VAT can not be justified as reasonable; 3) Other nearby development charges £50 for registering sublet.

The management company has now turned down my offer and insist I shall pay £120 as requested, and threatened if that's not paid within 28 days, a further admin charge of £60 will be added. 

Please may I check what are my options now? How easy is it to get a third party to look at the case, and assess what's most appropriate fee? What costs are involved in the process? Thanks in advance.

What does your lease say about fees for subletting? 

davidmcn

Lover_of_Lycra said:

pental said:

I have recently bought a leasehold Buy-To-Let flat, and the tenants moved in a few months ago. I got a letter from the management company requesting to register the sublet with an admin fee of £120. I disagreed the fee, but offered £50 instead on the basis of 1) the lease had written something like £30+VAT for the first 10 years and reasonable amount thereafter; 2) quoting FTT case where FTT ruled that a fee of more than £40+VAT can not be justified as reasonable; 3) Other nearby development charges £50 for registering sublet.

The management company has now turned down my offer and insist I shall pay £120 as requested, and threatened if that's not paid within 28 days, a further admin charge of £60 will be added. 

Please may I check what are my options now? How easy is it to get a third party to look at the case, and assess what's most appropriate fee? What costs are involved in the process? Thanks in advance.

What does your lease say about fees for subletting? 

"the lease had written something like £30+VAT for the first 10 years and reasonable amount thereafter"

eddddy

pental said:

2) quoting FTT case where FTT ruled that a fee of more than £40+VAT can not be justified as reasonable; 

Are you referring to these cases in the Upper Tribunal?
http://landschamber.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk/judgmentfiles/j823/LRX-33-34-76-102-2011.pdf

If so, you're misinterpreting  the decisions a bit. That ruling was that in 3 specific cases, based on the specific facts of those cases, a £40+vat sublet consent fee was payable. There was no general ruling about sublet consent fees for other cases.

The decision more-or-less boiled down to:

• In those specific cases, the freeholders had to spend 30 to 45 mins on admin work, to grant the consent
• £50 + vat per hour is a reasonable rate for admin work

So a good starting point might be to ask your management co for a breakdown of what they did for £120, and how long it took them. (For example, they may have a good reason why it's necessary spend 2+ hours on your application.)

It's probably a good idea to pay the £120 under protest, and saying that you intend to challenge it at a tribunal - that way you avoid the risk of the £60 late fee. See LEASE's advice here (it mentions service charges, but also applies to admin fees) : https://www.lease-advice.org/files/2016/09/service-charge-dispute-resolution-flowchart2.pdf

The you can challenge the fee at a tribunal.