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Freeholder's 'reasonable costs' for lease extension
NervyBuyer
Posts: 136 Forumite
Hi, for a lease extension my freeholder is charging £1000 + VAT for their 'valuation fee' and an additional £300 for their 'surveyor's fee'. Does a separate valuation and surveyor's fee count as 'reasonable'? Isn't the surveyor's fee the valuation fee - what else is a surveyor doing?
The most expensive quote I had for a valuation was £500 + VAT so £1500 for the same activity on the freeholder's side doesn't immediately strike me as 'reasonable' in layman's terms.
The most expensive quote I had for a valuation was £500 + VAT so £1500 for the same activity on the freeholder's side doesn't immediately strike me as 'reasonable' in layman's terms.
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NervyBuyer said:Hi, for a lease extension my freeholder is charging £1000 + VAT for their 'valuation fee' and an additional £300 for their 'surveyor's fee'. Does a separate valuation and surveyor's fee count as 'reasonable'? Isn't the surveyor's fee the valuation fee - what else is a surveyor doing?
The most expensive quote I had for a valuation was £500 + VAT so £1500 for the same activity on the freeholder's side doesn't immediately strike me as 'reasonable' in layman's terms.
Yep - the whole way Statutory Lease Extensions work at the moment is pretty shocking.
The leasehold reforms going through parliament at the moment are intended to address the fees 'problem' that you describe, as well as other stuff.
In general, if you ask a Solicitor, Valuer, Surveyor, etc, for a quote which you're paying for - they will give you a competitive fixed fee.
But if the law says that somebody else will have to pay your Solicitor's / Valuer's / Surveyor's fees - there is no incentive to give a competitive fee. So they tend to charge the maximum amount that they can justify.
You can challenge the fees through the tribunal - if you think they are not reasonable. Maybe one way of doing that is to gather up your own quotes from valuers, and then show them to the tribunal. (But I don't know if that would convince a tribunal.)
FWIW, I got £2.5k knocked off the fees a freeholder tried to charge me (via their solicitor). They backed down fairly easily over the first £1k, and then the tribunal ruled on the remaining £1.5k.
(But that was for different reasons than your case.)
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