Acting For Landlords

At Healys, our solicitors work closely with clients to find the best approach or strategy to achieve the desired outcome. We provide transparency and support at every point in the process.

Lease Extensions

The Process

There are two main routes, the first being via the informal route and the second via the statutory route.

The Informal Route

You may be able to agree to an informal lease extension with your leaseholder. We can assist in ensuring that all of the legal documentation is in order and guide you through the process from start to finish.

The benefits of following the informal route is that it can be quicker and more cost effective than the statutory route (which is explained below). There is no obligation on you to accept an informal offer made by your leaseholder and you may dictate what terms you consider to be reasonable. 

Unreasonable terms are unlikely to result in a viable deal. Our team can take you through the entire process step by step and provide valuable commercial advice that will assist you in taking your matter through to completion.

The Statutory Route

If a leaseholder has served you with a formal notice to extend their lease, you will likely be obliged to grant that person a statutory lease extension under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. They will be entitled to a new lease for a term of 90 years on top of their current term and their ground rent will be reduced to a very low rate. The premium they will pay would be negotiated between both parties’ appointed surveyors.

There are strict time limits to abide by in following the statutory route and our team will be on hand to guide you through the entire process from beginning to end. We will:

• Check the leaseholder’s eligibility for a statutory lease extension
• Review the initial notice served on you
• Draft and serve your counter notice
• Draft and settle the lease extension document
• Handle completion for you

If terms cannot be agreed (which in our experience is extremely rare) then we can assist and guide you through the application process with the First Tier Tribunal Property Chamber, which is the mechanism you can use to force a determination and ultimately close the lease extension process.

Whichever route is being taken, our team of experts will be on hand to provide you with effective legal advice and valuable commercial guidance to ensure that you obtain a favourable outcome.

Collective Enfranchisement Claims

This means you have been served with a formal notice by the majority of leaseholders in your building to acquire the freehold from you.

The basic test is that generally, most qualifying leaseholders in your building (50% or more) can serve a formal notice on their landlord to acquire the freehold. We will:

• Check their eligibility under the legislation to carry out the acquisition
• Review and report to you on the validity of their formal offer notice
• Draft and serve your counter notice
• Draft and settle the transfer documentation
• Deal with completion for you

If terms cannot be agreed in the statutory time limits, then an application to the First Tier Tribunal Property Chamber can be made to determine the terms which will force closure on the acquisition. 

With over 10 years’ experience in dealing with collective enfranchisement claims, you can rely on our team to guide you through the process efficiently from start to finish.

Right to Manage Claims

Under Part 2, Chapter 1 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2020, your leaseholders have a statutory right to take over the management of your building providing certain criteria are satisfied. Generally, they will have the right to take over the management of the building if a majority of the tenants in the block take part and the statutory procedure is followed correctly.

We will check the eligibility of your leaseholders to take over the management of the building, review their initial notice and guide you through the statutory process to completion. Healys’ expert solicitors have over 10 years’ experience in dealing with the right to manage claims and so you can rely on us to guide you efficiently through the process.

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, certain disposals trigger the right of first refusal. However, failure to comply with the abovementioned legislation can have serious consequences, so it is best to seek legal advice regarding making a disposal.

Firstly, we will check whether your disposal is caught by the legislation. If not, then you will be able to proceed with the disposal as you see fit. If it is, then we will guide you through the statutory process, which will include checking the title documentation, drafting and serving the initial offer notice, reviewing the leaseholders counter notice(s), drafting and settling the legal documentation and dealing with completion. Our expert team will be there to take you step by step through the entire process.