Lease extension with Wandsworth council

AskAsk

eddddy said:

... and an example of a trick that I've seen a nasty freeholder play...

• The leaseholder starts the process to take the freeholder to tribunal (court)

• So the freeholder says "OK - I agree to do the lease extension for £10k"

• So the leaseholder says "Great - I've withdrawn the tribunal (court) case"

• But then the freeholder says "I've changed my mind - the price is £20k"

Having withdrawn from the tribunal (court) case, the leaseholder cannot restart it. So the leaseholder has to :

• Pay all the costs - perhaps £2k to £4k

• Wait 12 months before they can try to extend the lease again

• Pay another £2k to £4k in costs

That's typically why you need a specialist solicitor - who is aware of all those tricks.

(But like I say, hopefully Wandsworth Council wouldn't play tricks like that.) 

which is why there needs to be reforms on lease extension as it is too open to negotiation and there needs to be an independent body that assess the lease extension value to remove the need to negotiate and argue the cost of the extension.

EssexHebridean

eddddy said:

... and an example of a trick that I've seen a nasty freeholder play...

• The leaseholder starts the process to take the freeholder to tribunal (court)

• So the freeholder says "OK - I agree to do the lease extension for £10k"

• So the leaseholder says "Great - I've withdrawn the tribunal (court) case"

• But then the freeholder says "I've changed my mind - the price is £20k"

Having withdrawn from the tribunal (court) case, the leaseholder cannot restart it. So the leaseholder has to :

• Pay all the costs - perhaps £2k to £4k

• Wait 12 months before they can try to extend the lease again

• Pay another £2k to £4k in costs

That's typically why you need a specialist solicitor - who is aware of all those tricks.

(But like I say, hopefully Wandsworth Council wouldn't play tricks like that.) 

BiB - a good example of why not to withdraw the tribunal case, but instead settle it on the basis of the agreement being reached. 😉

eddddy

EssexHebridean said:

BiB - a good example of why not to withdraw the tribunal case, but instead settle it on the basis of the agreement being reached. 😉

Exactly. There are lots of tricks that a freeholder can try - but they can all be overcome, as long as you know the relevant processes and legislation.

An experienced lease extension solicitor will know all the tricks in advance and warn their client about them, and know how to deal with them.


But I've come across conveyancing solicitors who have tried to do lease extensions - and they don't know the tricks - and so they've let their clients be tricked.

Jimmithecat

AskAsk said:

how many years do you have left on your lease?  i did hear about the leasehold reforms on the news.  as you mentioned it, i have googled the matter and will contact leasehold advisory for advice about whether it is worth hanging on with the extension until the new legislation comes out.  any ideas when that is likely to be?  next year or this year?

I have 95 years left on my lease with WC
The only information I have so far is that the council valuation will be £1000 & their legal costs are £1500
So it will be my solicitors cost & cost of the (90 year?) extension on top of that ?

I have no idea about further details and the leasehold reform legislation I am afraid 
I was hoping that someone would jump on here and give us some new information.

AskAsk

Jimmithecat said:

AskAsk said:

how many years do you have left on your lease?  i did hear about the leasehold reforms on the news.  as you mentioned it, i have googled the matter and will contact leasehold advisory for advice about whether it is worth hanging on with the extension until the new legislation comes out.  any ideas when that is likely to be?  next year or this year?

I have 95 years left on my lease with WC
The only information I have so far is that the council valuation will be £1000 & their legal costs are £1500
So it will be my solicitors cost & cost of the (90 year?) extension on top of that ?

I have no idea about further details and the leasehold reform legislation I am afraid 
I was hoping that someone would jump on here and give us some new information.

yeah, the £2,500 are WC costs, you will have your own surveyor and solicitor costs as you need to come up with a premium to offer them to extend the lease and they will then ask their surveyor if that is an agreeable amount.  for someone like the council, i can't see why they can't just tell us what the amount is and let us accept or reject it, if we pay their costs.  so no need to employ our own surveyor, just a solicitor to formalise the legal documentation as there won't be any discussions about unfair terms in a lease either when it comes to the council standard leases.

i have emailed the lease advisory and await their replies.  95 years left for you won't be an issue as it becomes an issue when it gets to 80 years and by that time, the new regs will already be in place i would think.

maja1127

AskAsk said:

We have a lease that has 88 years remaining.  We are planning to sell the flat next year so thought it would be a good idea to get the lease extended.  We have owned the flat for many years and had contacted Wandsworth council, who are the freeholder as the flat is ex-local authority, about the lease extension.  They said it will be fine to get the lease extended and directed us to the lease extension cost calculator for a guide on how much the lease extension will cost.

Should I instruct my solicitor, who does conveyancing for us, to do the lease extension work or should I instruct a specialist company that does lease extension work as I have seen ones where they have both solicitors and surveyors in house.

Anyone had experience with lease extension where the council is the freeholder?  I am thinking it should be an easy process as the council is unlikely to be unreasonable and trying to rip off leaseholders, demanding extortionate sums of money to agree to the extension, and so creating a dispute, which would lengthen the process.

I will be in a similar position soon. Would you be so kind to share what premium did you pay for the lease extension with the Wandsworth council. I know there is a lot of things to consider but a rough number will be very helpful. Was it more than you expected? I'm assuming you used the calculator that is provided on the Wandsworth council website. Many thanks! 

AskAsk

maja1127 said:

AskAsk said:

We have a lease that has 88 years remaining.  We are planning to sell the flat next year so thought it would be a good idea to get the lease extended.  We have owned the flat for many years and had contacted Wandsworth council, who are the freeholder as the flat is ex-local authority, about the lease extension.  They said it will be fine to get the lease extended and directed us to the lease extension cost calculator for a guide on how much the lease extension will cost.

Should I instruct my solicitor, who does conveyancing for us, to do the lease extension work or should I instruct a specialist company that does lease extension work as I have seen ones where they have both solicitors and surveyors in house.

Anyone had experience with lease extension where the council is the freeholder?  I am thinking it should be an easy process as the council is unlikely to be unreasonable and trying to rip off leaseholders, demanding extortionate sums of money to agree to the extension, and so creating a dispute, which would lengthen the process.

I will be in a similar position soon. Would you be so kind to share what premium did you pay for the lease extension with the Wandsworth council. I know there is a lot of things to consider but a rough number will be very helpful. Was it more than you expected? I'm assuming you used the calculator that is provided on the Wandsworth council website. Many thanks! 

we didn't go through with it as there was an issue with the building safety act 2022 having a negative impact on new leases that were extended.  it was an ambiguity in the act.

that has now been resolved but we haven't yet restarted the process.

you don't need to instruct your own solicitor for Wandsworth council lease extensions but it may be worth doing anyway.

maja1127

AskAsk said:

maja1127 said:

AskAsk said:

We have a lease that has 88 years remaining.  We are planning to sell the flat next year so thought it would be a good idea to get the lease extended.  We have owned the flat for many years and had contacted Wandsworth council, who are the freeholder as the flat is ex-local authority, about the lease extension.  They said it will be fine to get the lease extended and directed us to the lease extension cost calculator for a guide on how much the lease extension will cost.

Should I instruct my solicitor, who does conveyancing for us, to do the lease extension work or should I instruct a specialist company that does lease extension work as I have seen ones where they have both solicitors and surveyors in house.

Anyone had experience with lease extension where the council is the freeholder?  I am thinking it should be an easy process as the council is unlikely to be unreasonable and trying to rip off leaseholders, demanding extortionate sums of money to agree to the extension, and so creating a dispute, which would lengthen the process.

I will be in a similar position soon. Would you be so kind to share what premium did you pay for the lease extension with the Wandsworth council. I know there is a lot of things to consider but a rough number will be very helpful. Was it more than you expected? I'm assuming you used the calculator that is provided on the Wandsworth council website. Many thanks! 

we didn't go through with it as there was an issue with the building safety act 2022 having a negative impact on new leases that were extended.  it was an ambiguity in the act.

that has now been resolved but we haven't yet restarted the process.

you don't need to instruct your own solicitor for Wandsworth council lease extensions but it may be worth doing anyway.

Did you serve the Setion 42 Notice and received the response with the premium or at what stage you stopped? Did you hire solicitor to help you with the extension or did you do it yourself? The form looks quite easy to complete and the council is very helpful with my questions, so I'm reluctant to spend money on solicitor. I've been told that the WC is reasonable with their response.

maja1127

Jimmithecat said:

AskAsk said:

how many years do you have left on your lease?  i did hear about the leasehold reforms on the news.  as you mentioned it, i have googled the matter and will contact leasehold advisory for advice about whether it is worth hanging on with the extension until the new legislation comes out.  any ideas when that is likely to be?  next year or this year?

I have 95 years left on my lease with WC
The only information I have so far is that the council valuation will be £1000 & their legal costs are £1500
So it will be my solicitors cost & cost of the (90 year?) extension on top of that ?

I have no idea about further details and the leasehold reform legislation I am afraid 
I was hoping that someone would jump on here and give us some new information.

Have you started your lease extension process with the WC? I'd really appreciate if you share how have your experience been so far.

AskAsk

maja1127 said:

AskAsk said:

maja1127 said:

AskAsk said:

We have a lease that has 88 years remaining.  We are planning to sell the flat next year so thought it would be a good idea to get the lease extended.  We have owned the flat for many years and had contacted Wandsworth council, who are the freeholder as the flat is ex-local authority, about the lease extension.  They said it will be fine to get the lease extended and directed us to the lease extension cost calculator for a guide on how much the lease extension will cost.

Should I instruct my solicitor, who does conveyancing for us, to do the lease extension work or should I instruct a specialist company that does lease extension work as I have seen ones where they have both solicitors and surveyors in house.

Anyone had experience with lease extension where the council is the freeholder?  I am thinking it should be an easy process as the council is unlikely to be unreasonable and trying to rip off leaseholders, demanding extortionate sums of money to agree to the extension, and so creating a dispute, which would lengthen the process.

I will be in a similar position soon. Would you be so kind to share what premium did you pay for the lease extension with the Wandsworth council. I know there is a lot of things to consider but a rough number will be very helpful. Was it more than you expected? I'm assuming you used the calculator that is provided on the Wandsworth council website. Many thanks! 

we didn't go through with it as there was an issue with the building safety act 2022 having a negative impact on new leases that were extended.  it was an ambiguity in the act.

that has now been resolved but we haven't yet restarted the process.

you don't need to instruct your own solicitor for Wandsworth council lease extensions but it may be worth doing anyway.

Did you serve the Setion 42 Notice and received the response with the premium or at what stage you stopped? Did you hire solicitor to help you with the extension or did you do it yourself? The form looks quite easy to complete and the council is very helpful with my questions, so I'm reluctant to spend money on solicitor. I've been told that the WC is reasonable with their response.

Not it did not go that far.  You can certainly do it without a solicitor as it is the council, that is what we were told by the estate agent after we had instructed a solicitor!

But it worked out well that we did as she pointed out the issue with the fire safety acts on extending the lease at that time, which was why we had stopped.  That issue has been resolved now I think from the literature on the net.

But this is possibly why you should instruct a solicitor as they will act in your interest and possibly negotiate a better deal for you with the council as the lease extension is like buying a new property, it is subject to negotiation under the current laws.