Leasehold Management

With the extension of RTB and the development of shared ownership and other home-sale initiatives, the growth of leasehold tenures is only going to continue. And the differing needs and expectations of this expanding group of customers bring a whole new set of challenges for RPs.

From advising on policy to representation at court and tribunals, Croftons’ specialist Leasehold Management team is known for delivering practical solutions, achieving successful outcomes on complex and contentious cases, and making innovative use of legislation to achieve the best outcomes for our clients.

We are regular advisers to senior teams on leases, service charge agreements, leaseholder-related policies and all other aspects of leasehold management and leasehold property transactions. We also regularly act on behalf of landlords seeking declarations of breach of lease and advice on how to resolve leasehold disputes in a practical, efficient and cost effective way.

Recent matters

• Advising a housing trust on successfully in obtaining permission from the Residential Property Tribunal to dispense with undertaking consultation works on a major roof scheme due to the urgency of the required works. Leaseholders contested the application but after considering our written submissions the tribunal was satisfied that consultation was not required in this case. This was a brave tactic by the client but with our specialist support our client obtained the desired result.
• Advising a Manchester-based RP seeking a Residential Property Tribunal declaration that a leaseholder had breached their lease. The property was left unoccupied and had fallen into a major state of disrepair leaving our client unable to engage with the leaseholder and struggling to re-let adjacent properties. We advised our client on the leaseholder’s obligations and the application process, and then made the application and drafted witness evidence detailing the breach, the attempts to engage with the leaseholder and the effect that the breach was having on our client. We also drafted a legal submission referring to the legislation and cross referencing to the lease and the evidence. The Tribunal concluded that there had been a breach of the lease and a declaration was made. We subsequently prepared and served a section 146 notice and possession proceedings.
• Advising housing group on a service charge dispute/lease variation and a defective mixed-use building. The management company was failing to do repairs under the lease so our client was effectively managing the building and providing the services, given their statutory obligations under S11. We presented an options paper to the Board and gave practical advice on the lease terms and repairing obligations.