At least equal to 50%, which in your block means (insert number) leaseholders need to agree (joint leaseholders count as one vote)
We use a Company called Leasehold Doctors (www.leaseholddoctors.co.uk)
We will act as coordinator; this firstly involves tracking down as many leaseholders as we can which is no easy task as most blocks in London are more than 50% let. We use a combination of door knocking, land registry searches and social media. Once we have got as far as we can get with tracking people down and provided we have more than 50% we will then liaise with leasehold Doctors to set up the RTM Company and oversee the signing of the RTM application forms
No we don’t charge for this service. What we hope is that we can demonstrate our professionalism and service levels and that we are involved in any tender for a new Managing Agent once the block officially has the right to manage.
We will examine the building and put together a budget using a combination of quotes from local independent contractors and estimates based on similar blocks that we manage. The ‘realistic’ budget versus is the current budget is on average 25% less.
The average cost is £300 per flat. The only unknown cost are the Freeholder’s legal expenses which the RTM Company has to cover but these have to be ‘fair and reasonable’ under property law. Blocks that have gone RTM see this as a small price to pay for the benefits and cost savings they make.
No payment is required up front. Payment will be required after the RTM process has been successfully completed.
Once the required number of leaseholders has been reached the application can be made to the Freeholder. We would expect everything to be completed within 3 months
We recommend leaseholders that live in the block or want to have a more active role and we advise at least 3 Directors for the new RTM Company. Non-Directors will become members of the RTM Company and will be able to vote on the major block decisions at the Annual General Meeting. Those that don’t join the RTM Company will not be members and have no say in block decisions
No. Only property owners (the person named on the lease) can take part
It depends. The determining factor is ‘vertical separation’. If two buildings in the same development are vertically separate (IE, they don’t have any shared walkway’s, hallways, enclosed car parks)n it is likely they will have to make separate applications. If there is any doubt, we can visit to make an initial assessment and advise from there. The requirement for vertically separate buildings within the same development to make individual applications is new legislation which came into effect at the beginning of 2015, pursuant to a high court ruling. Based on this, an amendment was made to The Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
Currently, no. There is no mechanism to take over an Estate itself. Individual buildings in the Estate can take over the management of their, however The Freeholder would still be responsible for managing The Estate itself. In practical terms though, once buildings in an estate secure their own manager to manage their actual ‘block’ – they have an effective voice to represent them with The Freeholder over Estate Costs. The more buildings within an estate secure their own management (as a percentage of the estate), the stronger their collective voice and the easier it is to challenge estate management costs and decisions.
Possibly, yes. If the percentage is borderline it may be worth making an application anyway and if challenged by The Freeholder it would ultimately be referred to the First Tier Property Tribunal(FTP) who would make a ruling.