Very High Notice Fee - Freeholders

leodislife

I am buying a house that is leasehold (don’t ask me why its freehold, most houses in the area are for some reason been that way for iver a hundred years i think)

anyway the freeholders are Southern Estates ltd. And they are asking £480 just to change the name on the lease (it usually costs between £20-£200) . My solicitors are saying I may as well pay coz even if we disputed it , it would cost me £200 in legal fees and it  might not even work and can delay matters. 

Just wondering if theres any other avenues ? Can i take them to small claims court after Ive completed? 

It just seem extremely exorbitant for what is basically an admin fee. Also theres no mention of it on the lease agreement. 

35har1old

leodislife said:

I am buying a house that is leasehold (don’t ask me why its freehold, most houses in the area are for some reason been that way for iver a hundred years i think)

anyway the freeholders are Southern Estates ltd. And they are asking £480 just to change the name on the lease (it usually costs between £20-£200) . My solicitors are saying I may as well pay coz even if we disputed it , it would cost me £200 in legal fees and it  might not even work and can delay matters. 

Just wondering if theres any other avenues ? Can i take them to small claims court after Ive completed? 

It just seem extremely exorbitant for what is basically an admin fee. Also theres no mention of it on the lease agreement. 

Is not down to the seller to have it changed?

propertyrental

You buy the existing lease. No need to change the name on it.

But you will need to formall advise the freeholder of the change and that may be what you have been told about.

Jonboy_1984

35har1old said:

leodislife said:

I am buying a house that is leasehold (don’t ask me why its freehold, most houses in the area are for some reason been that way for iver a hundred years i think)

anyway the freeholders are Southern Estates ltd. And they are asking £480 just to change the name on the lease (it usually costs between £20-£200) . My solicitors are saying I may as well pay coz even if we disputed it , it would cost me £200 in legal fees and it  might not even work and can delay matters. 

Just wondering if theres any other avenues ? Can i take them to small claims court after Ive completed? 

It just seem extremely exorbitant for what is basically an admin fee. Also theres no mention of it on the lease agreement. 

Is not down to the seller to have it changed?

It's for the new owner and their mortgage providers benefit to have it correctly updated (and them that stand to lose if not done correctly) so why would they rely on the sellers bargain basement legal representative to complete this process.

(When we sold a flat we had to make a undertaking upfront to cover it but it was added to the buyers final costs) . 

eddddy

I suspect you mean you have to send the freeholders a "Notice of Assignment" and perhaps a "Notice of Charge" - if you're buying with a mortgage.

As you say, £480 sounds a bit excessive.  One option is to pay the fee under protest, and then challenge it later at a tribunal.

DullGreyGuy

Presumably you've looked at recent years service charges, notices etc? If this fee is excessive its likely that their other fees are also going to be toppy so you're probably buying into a pattern.

Jonboy_1984

DullGreyGuy said:

Presumably you've looked at recent years service charges, notices etc? If this fee is excessive its likely that their other fees are also going to be toppy so you're probably buying into a pattern.

For us personally the management agent was very reasonable over the full 15 years we were there for all the service charges, it was just the freeholders solicitors that were excessively expensive when we sold.

user1977

DullGreyGuy said:

Presumably you've looked at recent years service charges, notices etc? If this fee is excessive its likely that their other fees are also going to be toppy so you're probably buying into a pattern.

Given it's a house in a non-modern development I doubt there are any service charges etc involved.