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Freeholder's sublet fee

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135

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  • Nancy_Lee
    Nancy_Lee Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I was sent a letter by e&m management asking for
    £130 To register a new tenancy
    £65 To renew an existing tenancy
    £45 Retrospective consent charge
    I wrote to them quoting the cases that went to the tribunal and they replied basically saying the tribunals decision wasn't legally binding, however as a good will gesture they will accept £40 to register the tenancy. However they will not issue a consent certificate for the reduced fee.
    I have 14 days for them to receive their requirements.
    My questions to this forum are;
    Do I need a consent certificate?
    Do I have to pay to renew an existing tenant? If so how can it be £65 when the registration fee is no £40?
    Do I have to pay a retrospective consent charge, and if so how can it be £45?
    Can they charge registration fees for tenancies before they owned the freehold?
    I have tried to phone e&m but they do not answer their phone.
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 16,441 Forumite
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    Nancy_Lee wrote: »
    My questions to this forum are;
    Do I need a consent certificate?
    Do I have to pay to renew an existing tenant? If so how can it be £65 when the registration fee is no £40?
    Do I have to pay a retrospective consent charge, and if so how can it be £45?
    Can they charge registration fees for tenancies before they owned the freehold?
    I have tried to phone e&m but they do not answer their phone.

    It depends on what your lease says and/or what is 'reasonable'.

    The freeholder and leaseholder must each do what the lease says they must do.

    So if the lease says the leaseholder must renew consent every time there is a new tenant/tenancy agreement, then that's what you have to do.

    And any fee charged by the freeholder must be 'reasonable'. Based on the Tribunal case, I imagine that a £40 fee for renewal would be reasonable.
  • sl888_2
    sl888_2 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Nancy_Lee wrote: »
    I was sent a letter by e&m management asking for
    £130 To register a new tenancy
    £65 To renew an existing tenancy
    £45 Retrospective consent charge
    I wrote to them quoting the cases that went to the tribunal and they replied basically saying the tribunals decision wasn't legally binding, however as a good will gesture they will accept £40 to register the tenancy. However they will not issue a consent certificate for the reduced fee.
    I have 14 days for them to receive their requirements.
    My questions to this forum are;
    Do I need a consent certificate?
    Do I have to pay to renew an existing tenant? If so how can it be £65 when the registration fee is no £40?
    Do I have to pay a retrospective consent charge, and if so how can it be £45?
    Can they charge registration fees for tenancies before they owned the freehold?
    I have tried to phone e&m but they do not answer their phone.

    Hi Nancy, did you have further info from E&M as I received the same letter and not sure if I should pay, they want to charge 390 for current and 2 previous tenants. Also, any luck in finding out if a consent certificate is needed as I couldn't find any further details online, thanks.
  • Wanderingpomm
    Wanderingpomm Posts: 524 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary
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    They are taking the !!!!. Tell them you won't pay it and then jointly get a solicitor with all the landlords they are trying to get money from. You have case precedent.
  • squasher
    squasher Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I've also had a letter from E&M now on behalf of Proxima GR Properties Ltd (and not Peverill who they once represented) with the same demand for £130 to register a new tenancy, £65 to renew an existing tenancy and £45 for a retrospective consent discharge. Clearly there are anomalies in these various figures in request for payment and it would be very interesting to know what they do to justify these wholly exorbitant sums. The figures they are quoting bear are not representative of the maximum figure assumed by the Tribunal. It would be good to know if many others have had similar correspondence lately.
  • willga
    willga Posts: 2 Newbie
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    I've received exactly the same letter from E&M - they're obviously looking to milk the cash cow this summer, probably to fund the Tchenguiz brothers' SFO legal bill.

    Is there some form of Group Action Litigation that we can all get behind to defend against this extortion?
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 16,441 Forumite
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    willga wrote: »
    Is there some form of Group Action Litigation that we can all get behind to defend against this extortion?

    I don't think you need to do anything dramatic like that.

    As I said in post #19, there are Upper Tribunal precedents that say £40 is a reasonable fee - unless your freeholder is incurring greater costs for some reason.

    I would just refer your freeholder to those precedents, and ask them what extra work they are doing to justify the higher fee.

    If you don't think their answer is credible, you can make an 'Application for Determination' to the first tier Tribunal for a £100 fee, I believe.

    (And the Tribunal has the power to make the Freeholder pay you back the £100, if appropriate.)

    Some info: http://www.lease-advice.org/faq/what-can-i-do-if-i-disagree-with-an-administration-charge/
  • Nansen
    Nansen Posts: 10 Forumite
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    Hi folks, I also received the same letter from e&m. Has there been any further news to report since the previous post?
  • Anna.james
    Anna.james Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Also had a letter from e&m demanding 130 for permission to sublet and asking for all previous tenants! From this thread and another one it seems
    1/ it's worth asking them where it states in the lease that you need permission to sublet.
    2/ a number of cases have been raised specifying that a 'reasonable' fee is £40.

    So I guess it's worth contesting. As for previous tenants, they can chase me for that!
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 16,441 Forumite
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    Anna.james wrote: »
    1/ it's worth asking them where it states in the lease that you need permission to sublet.

    You could read the lease yourself, to see if you need permission to sublet. You only need to challenge the freeholder if you disagree with them.
    Anna.james wrote: »
    As for previous tenants, they can chase me for that!

    If you mean you plan to ignore Service Charge demands, that may not be a good idea.

    You're likely to start getting things like solicitors letters, and the lease probably states that you will have to pay the solicitor's fees.

    If you have a mortgage, the freeholder might also contact your lender. Your lender might pay the charges in order to protect their investment. (And you might have broken the terms of your mortgage.)
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