subject: Lease Enfranchisement and the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal [print this page] Lease Enfranchisement and the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal
When you make your application for lease enfranchisement, you naturally hope that the process will go as smoothly as possible. Of course, though, like almost any issue in life, there are issues that arise and problems that can come up no matter how careful you are. We take you through some of the key ones so you can be prepared when you decide to exercise your right to enfranchise.One of the biggest hurdles you may have to jump is where you encounter a landlord whom disputes your right to buy the freehold. This can happen if the landlord feels you don't have a sufficient claim, if there has been any coercion going on or if they simply want to hold onto the freehold for themselves. The freeholder can also refuse to sell you the freehold if they need the property for their family or if they are intending to demolish or remodel the property, in which case you may be eligible for compensation. If they will not sell due to any other reason, then you can get a court order to make them sell to you and any other tenants.These cases can often end up in a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal which is a quasi-judicial body whom specifically deals with leasehold enfranchisement issues. This means that they have been given power by government legislation to make decisions that would otherwise be made by the courts. The sort of problems regarding lease enfranchisements which they have the authority to rule upon are: - The amount that the freehold should sell the interest for. - Who is liable for the costs associated with the purchase. - Adjudicate in disputes over the selling or purchase of a freehold.Often it is the LVT who step in once a resolution has failed to be achieved in a local or County court, so by the time your case gets to them there will already be a significant paper trail behind it that allows assessors to look at your claim of lease enfranchisement and compare it with the counter-notice of your landlord or current freeholder. The person whom is the claimant before the County Court will become the applicant before the LVT.Many of the case which appear before the LVT will have to have a hearing, in which, oral and written evidence will be presented. A decision will generally be made within 6 weeks of the hearing and the decision of the LVT is binding on all parties related to a particular lease enfranchisement case.
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