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Aston Lawyer
Aston Lawyer, Solicitor
Category: Law
Satisfied Customers: 10777
Experience:  Solicitor LLB (Hons) 23 years of experience in Conveyancing and Property Law
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I own a a share in the freehold property management company

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I own a a share in the freehold property management company which in has granted a long lease to each of the Residents. Therefore we are all owners of the freehold company but also the leaseholders.

Does section 20 of the Landlord & Tenant Act still apply or any other relevant sections?

It is hard to convince people that we are to comply with the Act
Aston Lawyer
Hello and thanks for using Just Answer.

My name is XXXXX XXXXX am happy to assist you with your enquiry.

Well, you are of course quite correct in that although you all are "Freeholders" as such, you are also all Leaseholders and it is the terms of each of your individual Leases that govern how the development runs/ what covenants you all must abide by and how much service charge you must all pay.

Indeed, if the Management Company does not serve any appropriate Section 20 Notice and all the Leaseholders are not consulted, then you as Landlord may not be able to recover more than £100 per leaseholder in any accounting period towards the costs under the works, if any of the Leaseholders decide not to pay!

Not sure what else I can add to the above. There is a great website- Leasehold Advisory Service that can provide free advice on all aspects of Leasehold issues. Cheaper than us Solicitors! Link is here

www.lease-advice.org

I hope this assists.

Kind Regards
AL
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Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Hi there,


 


Yes I do know that site and it is excellent.


 


So for my colleagues sake they should understand that we must conform to the Landlord & Tenant Act?


Hi again,

Yes, they need to understand that their rights to live in their Flats comes from their rights as Tenants under their respective Leases.
Therefore, when it comes to deciding on what work is necessary for the development, then the Freeholder must serve Notice on each of the Leaseholders.
If the procedure is not followed through, it is only potentially going to cause problems at a later date, so it is best to avoid that potential problem arising in the first place!

I hope this helps.

Kind Regards
AL
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Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Sorry just one last question.


 


What are the penalties if we fail to comply? Is there a fine or prosecution or is it problem only if a Leaseholder complains about sonething?


Hi,

There is no fine as such. It just means that if one of the Tenant's does dispute matters, you would not legally be entitled to chase him for more than a £100 contribution.

Many thanks for the positive feedback.

Kind Regards
AL
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Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Sorry to ask you another but related question to my previous question; if s20 is not followed and the Landlord is not able to recover his costs then is it the Directors of the Property Management Company who would be liable or the Company would have to take the hit?


 


Does it matter what the Lease says? In other words can this get you out of any notice under s20?


Hi,

It doesn't matter what the Lease says- the formalities concerning Section 20 Notices comes from statute and need to be complied with.

If the procedure is not followed, then the Directors are at fault, but ultimately the loss would be incurred by the Management Co.

Kind Regards
AL
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