So this week I want to write about managing agents and their charges. I can already hear that collective sigh…
I am so old that I remember when the cost of serving a notice of assignment was two guineas. And for all of you youngsters out there, this is £2.10 (if my memory serves me right, but older readers will correct me if I am wrong!)
And it is not actually just a notice of assignment now.
I am acting for a seller of a leasehold property and, as is often the case, a deed of variation is needed in order to proceed with the sale. To be honest, the managing agent know that we (and I use that term collectively as it applies to all of us) and our clients need that deed of variation in order to proceed with the sale, so notwithstanding all of the cases surrounding this, the managing agent will not expect us to take the matter to a tribunal.
In my particular case this week, the cost of obtaining the deed was £2,500.00, together with a premium of £30,000.00.
The cost of obtaining the Leasehold Information Pack was £750.00 and the Licence to Assign was a further £1,500.00. When I received the Leasehold Information Pack , it noted that if further questions arose from it, there would be a further charge of £60.00 per question. This does not take into account one of my frustrations at the moment that such packs could be fed into an enquiry system and we could get many questions.
My poor seller. I had to be the bearer of this bad news.
She cannot afford to sell. Her family need a house, a flat is fine with a baby but she wants a garden.
When we read reports as to the number of flats on the market, does this not go some way to explaining why? There are so many issues with leasehold properties that need to be addressed and it is the public who are suffering. Managing agents /freeholders are not helping the public. Conveyancers want to help; we want our clients to move house but flats create a particular challenge and it is becoming a more and more specialised area . We need to charge to reflect that specialisation which just increases the cost burden on the clients.
This column is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. The views expressed are those of the author and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
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