Ts of flats held on long leases, once they have owned their flats for two years, have a right to claim an extended lease of 90 years (Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993).
|
The government has made it clear that it intends to abolish the status of ‘tolerated trespasser’, and to restore tenancy status to all existing tolerated
trespassers. This will be done via the Housing and Regeneration Bill.
|
|
What can the lessees in a block of flats do if L wants to build new flats
or penthouses on top of the existing building? A partial answer may well
lie in LTA 1987 which gives long lessees a right of first refusal.
|
|
Long lessees of residential flats can collectively acquire the freehold of
their block (Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act
1993). As originally drafted, buildings with less than 10% commercial
use were excluded; that figure was increased to 25% by Commonhold
and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
|
|
Apparently, nearly 1 in 100 households in England has a shared
ownership lease. It therefore follows that 1 in 100 households are in for
a very nasty shock, when they discover that they do not necessarily own
a share of the property!
|
|
Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 introduced important
changes to the enfranchisement legislation. In particular, greater
certainty resulted from the ‘fixed valuation date’ and the ‘80-year rule’.
|
|
This is a summary of the various statutory rights now given to Ts in
relation to service charges:
|
 To what extent can knowledge of a ‘special purchaser’ be
imputed to the landlord, when determining the price payable
for the freehold? Simon Serota analyses the Lands Tribunal’s
latest findings.
|
|
Modern health policy is that those who
suffer from mental illness should take such
part as they can in society, rather than being
institutionalised. Achieving this, of course, is not
without problems. For landlords, the concern is
often the tenant whose illness causes them to
behave towards other tenants in a manner that
may be abusive, annoying or intimidating.
|
|
A suspended possession order against an assured T will mean that the
T becomes a tolerated trespasser (and so loses the status of an
assured T).
|
|
If an assured T under a fixed-term tenancy commits a criminal offence,
that may be a ground for possession (Ground 14) under HA 1988. This
applies if T has been:
|
|
The reason why leasehold enfranchisement is much more common than
it used to be lies in Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002,
which says that Ts no longer have to occupy the property as their
residence to qualify. So, a developer can now buy a lease of a house or
a flat, and then claim the freehold (or a 90-year lease extension) even
though he has no intention of ever living in the property.
|
|
On the expiry of the fixed term of an assured shorthold, L can get
possession through the accelerated possession procedure. This
requires L to have given at least two months notice to T of its intention
to recover the property, plus at least six months must have passed
since the date of the original agreement. But, remember that the
accelerated procedure can only be used if there was a written tenancy
agreement.
|
|
There has been a very important decision for disabled Ts. In essence,
Ts can now raise disability discrimination as a defence, even when there
is no other runnable defence to the possession claim (ie when L has an absolute right to possession). Accordingly, those acting for Ts should
always consider whether they can raise disability discrimination as a
defence.
|
|
|
