UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,
Does anyone have any experience of dealing with a free-holder who charges excessive fees for obtaining permission to let?

I have been charged a lot more than is stated by the Upper Chamber (Lands Tribunal), 2012 which states that the fees must be justified and must not be more than £40 plus VAT.

I have written to the free-holder and they said they would reduce the fee on this one occasion, but not going forward. And they have refused to refund the amount they have overcharged by in the past.

What should I do? I could do with legal advice, but I am not a wealthy property tycoon! I just about get by, this is only a one-bed flat, the only property I let out.

Many thanks in advance 

I am confused by this.Is it not sufficient to get their permission once? You seem to be saying each new tenancy has to be approved,which has never been my experience,nor have I ever been charged a fee.

Is this a conventional leasehold flat with a long lease (more than 21 years) where you pay a ground rent of no more than a few hundred pounds a year, plus a maintenance charge?  Or do you hold it on some kind of short periodic tenancy yourself?

If it's a conventional leasehold flat, then I believe that if I was in your place I would write to the freeholder in these terms:-
___________________

Dear Sir/Madam

Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002

I refer to the decision of George Bartlett, QC, in [2012] UKUT 1 (LC), and enclose my cheque in the sum of £48.00 (forty-eight pounds), being the £40.00 plus VAT which was decided, in the Further Decision of that case, to be the maximum administration charge permissible in law.  I await your consent to sublet and anticipate receiving the same within 14 (fourteen) days of this letter.

Yours faithfully
_______________

Then I would go ahead and sublet.  If they want to fight you over that, don't engage in any protracted correspondence -- just tell them that you've paid them everything they're going to get for their consent and if they want any more they should proceed directly to Court.

They won't.  They may bluster and send final demands, but ignore everything from them until the actual day of the Court hearing.

In the extremely unlikely event that they try to fight you in Court, show a copy of the above letter to the judge and then sit back down again.  Your case is akin to Gibraltar.

Thank you so much for both replies, I had wondered if they will just keep trying it on a getting out of me whatever they can fool me into paying.

The flat is just a conventional flat with a long lease which will probably survive me several times over (I am only 46 ) Yes I pay a small ground rent fee per year. I am the owner of the flat.

And yes, they expect permission each time a tenant changes (£135), and a slightly smaller fee for renewals of the same tenant!

Quote from: Mortimer on June 20, 2019, 09:33:32 AM
Is this a conventional leasehold flat with a long lease (more than 21 years) where you pay a ground rent of no more than a few hundred pounds a year, plus a maintenance charge?  Or do you hold it on some kind of short periodic tenancy yourself?

If it's a conventional leasehold flat, then I believe that if I was in your place I would write to the freeholder in these terms:-
___________________

Dear Sir/Madam

Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002

I refer to the decision of George Bartlett, QC, in [2012] UKUT 1 (LC), and enclose my cheque in the sum of £48.00 (forty-eight pounds), being the £40.00 plus VAT which was decided, in the Further Decision of that case, to be the maximum administration charge permissible in law.  I await your consent to sublet and anticipate receiving the same within 14 (fourteen) days of this letter.

Yours faithfully
_______________

Then I would go ahead and sublet.  If they want to fight you over that, don't engage in any protracted correspondence -- just tell them that you've paid them everything they're going to get for their consent and if they want any more they should proceed directly to Court.

They won't.  They may bluster and send final demands, but ignore everything from them until the actual day of the Court hearing.

In the extremely unlikely event that they try to fight you in Court, show a copy of the above letter to the judge and then sit back down again.  Your case is akin to Gibraltar.

They are trying it on.I would not bother telling them when tenants change.