This comment submitted by a leasehold owner living on the Edgeware Road in north London deserves wider prominence
By Simin Eftekhari
The comment at the beginning refers to this article immediately below: “They are in a converted bakery in an area of the town with anti-social issues and most of the owners are investors … or the bank, as five have been re-possessed” From the article.
It looks like the London-based freeholder/management agency has bought this building freehold in an auction for making profit.
Freeholders in my experience do not want to make the life for leasehold owners easy and enjoyable, and make a reasonable profit. They do not want to make leaseholders feel “home”, in their leasehold properties. They ask for an unspeakable amount of money for refurbishment. They like leaseholders out of their scene. In our example, our management agency called us “Bunch of Animals”, who wanted to get rid of (apology to leasehold owners).
Yes, in our experience they kept forget to bring the itemised costs and itemised invoices to the meeting. They even forgot to bring them to the court, and blame the leaseholders for this.
Government has offered a lot of legal rights to leaseholders. Leasehold owners have lots of rights as long as they know how to exercise them for having full ownership and full control. But it takes a lot of encouragements and strength for one to deal with all legal terms and challenges the freeholders. Not everybody is ready to do this painful battle alone.
In my experience I did everything in my power. I had private meetings with the freeholder in their office. It turned out to be only to convince me that they are right and I am wrong. Blackmailing, threatening in polite way was part of our meeting. Things got even worse.
I even invited our freeholder to the building. When he came to the building, I found out it was his first view of the building. He told me: “what do you think this is, this is only a block of flat in Edgware Road, is not Buckingham Palace !.” Our freeholder surviving tactic is manipulation, frightening and insulting the leaseholders
Government is trying to support leaseholders, freeholders and the building through their Justice system. Unfortunately the complexity which freeholders create purposely, perhaps is not even understood by some judges. They try to put plaster on very deep wounds which needs the healing from the roots.
Going to solicitors in our case did not help. I found out that my solicitor knew the Management Agency! My solicitor was friend of them. They also worked for the client, if their property is with equity. My situation became more chaotic by my solicitor.
Leasehold property owners can never expect the freeholder treat their home like theirs. If you want to keep the wolves far from your door; as the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership wants, take the control of your property.
Do not work alone. Do the work with other leasehold owners. You need 50% of leaseholders for establishing your Right to manage. Remember your building needs money as well as hard work. An Accredited Management Agency can be found with good references to deliver an accountable, transparent and responsible job.
There are good people with good heart who can support you, find them and start now.
Related posts:
Observer newspaper features Leasehold Knowledge Partnership – and warns of problems with joint freehold owners
How local authority leasehold owners can fight back
Why are leasehold house owners mobilising while flat owners suffer in silence?
Just how much can a freeholder charge in a leasehold flat sale?
ConservativeHome website calls for radical reform of leasehold
Leasehold owners of flats worth £60,000 are hit with £1 million refurb bill after freehold is scooped up in auction
I have been waiting for this moment. I have been working 13 years ” keeping the wolves away from my door.” The sorrow and pain can not be measured. I am so pleased, finally with the help of Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, we be able to name and shame our Management Agencies for the big damages to our building and our psychological well being.
Please name the Management Agency so others can be informed of how they fail to perform.
I have urgent questions I d like ask but I cant see forum or (Question section)
Well done Simin for standing up to the bully boy landlords of this world…… You are a shining example of what can be acheived with guts and determination an you did not take No for an answer…
Karen, Thank you. Yes I can not take NO for an answer. We are talking about “our home”. Our “sanctuary place”. We go home for rest, love and care. When one is allowed to sent you “Threatening letters”, “black mailing letter”, is breath taking, and is devastating. Can you imagine psychological impact on the family and the children? I used to hide in the house and wait for the post man to come, in order to hide the Management Agencies’s letter from my family. Trust and Crabtree’s letter were the darkest messages of my life. This should be stopped.
Simin
I agree with Karen’s comments and assume you have now managed to take control of your “home”?
This is part of the problem, the fact that we ‘buy’ ( actually rent! ) as leaseholders in good faith that a managing agent will do what they are supposed to do! Like you I spent many years battling with our agents (although not in such a dire situation) and finally managed 3 years ago to convince the necessary residents to achieve RTM. We have also experienced threatening letters from a solicitor who is friends with the managing agent since then and you are quite right how all of this stress has a huge strain both emotionally and physically as well as psychologically but of course the powers that be are not the slightest bit interested in this!!
It has certainly been a tremendous help to read of others battles both on this site and others ( see Leasehold life with Sharon Crossland) but the ministers need to visit these people, yes PEOPLE not just statistics and see for themselves the misery that is being caused by leasehold.
However we do now have a lovely home with the building in the condition it should always have been and money in the bank!! Unfortunately it still does not belong to us at present but we are looking into changing that.
“but the ministers need to visit these people, yes PEOPLE not just statistics and see for themselves the misery that is being caused by leasehold.”Lesley Newnham
I agree with your above key word for Freeing “Leasehold properties”. We need support of politician and government.
Question: Lease extension (freeholder and immediate landlord)
can the immediate landlord oppose a lease extension between flat owner/leaseholder and freeholder if this immediate landlord has received his share of the money but is not the “competent landlord”.
Question: is vesting order (residential lease extension only for absent landlords.. Our landlord agreed premium and lease..but would not send “completion statement”; he drafted final lease which we approved..but he did not sign it..and did not enter premium amount in lease .
not sure myself..
I hope this matter has been settled.
I don’t know anything about vesting orders but guess this is not central to the main issue. If the person entitled to extend your lease (landlord) has agreed with you, the tenant, to extend your lease and has also agreed other detail such as the premium, then there is a contract in place. If the landlord then refuses to proceed the question is ‘why’? It he doesn’t have a reason that you can address, it looks like he is in breach of contract.
When negotiation fails, the First-Tier Property Tribunal (old LVT) can help; or the courts. Success in all litigation depends on bringing, and making, the right case under the right law/s.
When you say landlord would not send completion statement – does this mean that the landlord is doing his own legal documentation? For obvious reasons it works better when landlord and tenant take professional advice – solicitor, surveyor.
Freeholder calls leaseholders are a bunch of animals?
Yes guys, it’s true. The law of the jungle operates in the leasehold sector. The Big Cats are the landlords, managing agents, lawyers, accountants, trade bodies and other nefarious hangers-on. These people cock a snook to the regulators and to the mass of regulations designed to protect leaseholders and make the leasehold system fair and operable.
Instead, the Big Cats have come up with their own alternative systems tailored cunningly but exclusively to their own business needs. They manipulate, massage, cajole but soon bare teeth and turn nasty if they don’t get their way.
In this context, we leaseholders are Pussycats. But it doesn’t’ have to be like that. Has anyone ever seen a gaggle of geese confront a fox and drive it off? If us leaseholders were to network and support each other in the same way, we could drive off the Big Cats, for good.
Sue Stuckey,
This is exactly what this and other sites are about.
A glorious example is the fantastic victory of City Heights a few years ago. Rather than simply settle for a win and go on their way, they made sure others has access to the method of their victory.
Many years later, other developments are using their guide. A similar story at Charter Quay.
You cite the law of the jungle. I agree. But in the jungle, the biggest beast is overcome by millions of ants.
For the record, i have never seen a gaggle of geese confront a fox and drive it off. I have seen a group of residents confront a Peverel Property Manager and drive him off!
Michael,
LKP would be delighted to publish a full account of the City Heights victory. Is anyone who was involved in that still contactable?
I think it was City Heights that gave birth to The Truth About Solitaire website, which has now gone (Solitaire was one of many buy-ups by Peverel).
I am very keen that leasehold litigants pool and share their hard won knowledge.
Charter Quay is the model here, and Martin Boyd – who led the litigation which won back £500,000 and organised buying the freehold – is engaged through LKP with improving leasehold law and confronting those who abuse it.