News
Crunch time
It seems to be all doom and gloom in the property market, but Guy Osborn points out that some can take advantage of the climate.
ALL AROUND YOU CREDIT is crunching and mortgages are as hard to come by as a good day for Gordon Brown. The property market is allegedly crashing, and doom and gloom reign supreme in the financial markets. In the light of this you may forgiven for putting off those plans to move property and sit tight for a few years.
Whilst in London we have been used - over the last ten years - to property prices rising exorbitantly, it now seems that we will not be able to rely on the market alone to increase the value of our properties. However, all is not lost. There are two ways of increasing the value of your home without moving or giving it a day-time TV make-over. There has never been a better time for lessees to consider either purchasing the freehold of their property or extending their leases. Firstly, with the market cooling, it should be easier for the lessees’ valuer to persuade their Landlord counter-part to accept more “realistic” short and long lease values, which will have the effect of reducing the overall premium payable. Secondly, where the lease is under 80 years and marriage value is payable, given that it is split equally between landlord and lessee, the lessee should enjoy a commensurate increase in the value of their property, without lifting a finger.
At Osbornes, we have one of the largest dedicated Property Litigation Departments in north London and have been practising in the field of Enfranchisement for over ten years. We have considerable experience of advising individuals and groups of tenants in relation to lease extensions and collective enfranchisements, acquisition of the Right to Manage and general residential Landlord and Tenant matters.
As an example, we were instructed in the acquisition of the freehold of a converted house in Hampstead by a small group of lessees. The lessees had enjoyed a less than cordial relationship with their Landlord and anticipated opposition and subterfuge at every stage of their application. Having served the initial notice, they received in response a somewhat vitriolic letter telling our clients where they could stick their freehold, followed by a course of other complaints. Notwithstanding that the Landlord was supposedly a “property professional”, it appears that he failed to obtain legal advice and allowed the time for service of a counternotice to expire.
An application was made to the County Court for a declaration that our clients may acquire the freehold on the terms set out in their initial notice. The Landlord initially attempted to argue that his course of correspondence amounted to a valid counternotice, but having finally obtained legal advice, he subsequently withdrew this claim, agreed to the acquisition on our clients’ terms and paid our clients’ legal costs of the proceedings. The lessees now happily manage their own property and are masters of their own destiny.
Osbornes, Livery House, 9 Pratt Street NW1 0AE; Tel: 020 7681 8678; email: guyosborn@osbornes.net |
