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Last week I had the pleasure of spending a whole day in the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal waiting to give expert evidence. The case relates to a 1930’s block of flats that have spent 14 years trying to get changes to their leases to allow for individual heating within the flats rather than a communal heating and hot water system.
I’m also writing this while waiting for a resident meeting to start on a 1930’s block in Mayfair that is just embarking on the same process.
Whatever the right or wrongs, benefits or disadvantages, what was brought home was two factors. One, the importance of lease drafting cannot be stressed enough for new developments. The need to cover all options and the necessity for the lawyers to work closely with the property managers is essential to ensure that flexibility and future demands and needs are catered for. After all a lease for 999 years is an awful long time!
Secondly, in the legislation produced it is difficult to ensure that the innocent are protected but the leaseholders don’t get burdened with excessive costs to resolve matters.
Now the first point should feasible without too much problem, it just needs a will and desire of the developers and house builders to ensure their team do the job properly. Unfortunately I have lost count of how many times I come across leases that are defective on day 1 and do not match what is constructed let alone catering for flexibility for the future!
21 Apr 2010 09:34:52