Residential Leaseholders' Handbook

Residential Leaseholders’ Handbook explains in plain language everything leaseholders and their advisers need to know in relation to long residential leases. Among the common problems it tackles are:-

• absent landlords
• spiralling service charges
• the right to be consulted on significant or long term service charge items
• how to challenge excessive charges
• how to gain control from difficult or exploitive landlords
• how to set up a management company.

The book begins with the legal framework of a typical ground lease and its main provisions such as:-

• responsibility for repairs, insurance and management of a building.
• what does the covenant for "quiet enjoyment" really mean?
• can a lease really be terminated if ground rent is overdue by a few days?

A badly worded lease can adversely affect the resale of the property.The author explains:-

• what lenders look for in a residential lease
• how leaseholders can insist that their lease is amended to meet lenders’ requirements
• the issues relating to assignment, subletting and alteration of leasehold premises.

Setting up their own management company and buying out their ground landlord is one way in which leaseholders can collectively take control of their own affairs and make decisions on a democratic basis. Surprisingly there are now four separate statutory regimes that enable leaseholders to do this including the "right of first refusal" conferred on residential leaseholders before landlords can sell their interest to a third party.The author also explains the right of individual leaseholders to extend their leases provided basic qualifying criteria can be met.

Extensive use of real life scenarios, landmark cases and some fictitious case studies illustrate how leasehold law works in practice and enables readers to effectively assess their position.