Insights

Industry comment, updates and news from the Websters team.

Cladding – navigating the funding of remedial works and the ‘waking watch’

Friday, February 7th, 2020 in Landlord, Managing Agent, Residential, Service Charge

The issue of how remedial works and interim measures will be funded is an emotive and challenging one, with many competing interests at play. Brady Solicitors’ Adam Fotiou reviews the options for freeholders and managing agents seeking to fund these essential works.

Owners and developers who had installed cladding in good faith are refusing to pay for remedial works and many are looking to the leaseholders to fund these works under their service charge, should the leases to the flat permit them to do so.

However, leaseholders are inevitably (and understandably) aggrieved; they purchased their flats in the comfort of knowing the building regulations designed to protect their safety and the certification by local authorities of a building’s compliance with those regulations were both fit for purpose. The individual costs of the remedial works through the service charge will likely be life-changing for many.

Click here to read the full article published by News on The Block.

What do the new Service Charges Rules mean for you?

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019 in Commercial, Managing Agent, Service Charge

The RICS Professional statement – Service charges in commercial property – came into effect on 1 April 2019 with the aim of improving standards, fairness and transparency in the management of service charges and reducing the causes of disputes.

Joanna Crofts of RICS (registered institure of chartered surveyors) explains the benefits of the new rules for both tenants and landlords, what the global property consultancy has seen to-date, and outlines the changes that have become mandatory.

Read more here.

Key developments in commercial landlord and tenant law 2018

Tuesday, December 11th, 2018 in Commercial, Landlord, Mixed Use, Service Charge

With the New Year fast approaching, Kathryn Copeland, Commercial Real Estate associate, reviews the key developments in commercial landlord and tenant law in 2018.

The article, titled ‘A roundup of 2018‘ covers developments surrounding:

  • CVAs
  • A new service charge code
  • The Electronic Communications Code
  • MEES
  • Electronic signatures at the Land Registry
  • and various case law development.

Kathryn also briefly looks ahead to 2019 and reviews what might be next on the agenda, including radical changes in residential leasehold, and the potential impact of Brexit.

‘This article was first published in Property Law Journal (December 2018/January 2019) and is also available at lawjournals.co.uk’.

Please note that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy or position of Websters.

RICS Professional Statement: service charges in commercial property

Wednesday, November 14th, 2018 in Commercial, News, Service Charge

Andrew Graham-Smith of Womble Bond Dickson writes about the new RICS Statement, which will come into effect from 1st April 2019.

In September, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (“RICS”) published its latest Professional Statement, entitled “Service Charges in Commercial Property” (the “Statement”). The Statement re-states updates and replaces the existing Service Charge Code (the “Code”), and has the regulatory effect of formalising the Code within the RICS best practice framework. The Statement is effective from 1 April 2019 and will apply to all Service Charges across the UK.

The Statement sets out best practice in the management and administration of service charges in commercial property and provides mandatory obligations that RICS members and regulated firms engaged in this area must comply with or potentially face disciplinary proceedings.

The Statement is not capable of overriding the terms of a lease, however, service charge provisions must be read in conjunction with the Statement to help identify the best interpretation of the lease provisions, and ensure compliance with the Statement as far as possible.

The Statement has increased the regulatory weight of the Service Charge Code, and as such the mandatory requirements and core principles should be carefully considered by professional practitioners who advise on the terms of new commercial leases, or who are involved with service charge provisions in leases.

To read more on the Aims & Objectives, Mandatory requirements, Core Principals & Guidance Click here.

Five factors to consider before combining service charge & ground rent arrears

Monday, April 2nd, 2018 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, Residential, Service Charge

In a recent post from News on the Block Clare Brady of Brady Solicitors highlights 5 factors to be considered before combining service charge and ground rents. She writes;

When acting for an RMC or Right to Manage Company, managing agents will often be told by the freeholder to allow them to deal with the service charge arrears. The benefits of such an approach are clear from the ground rent owner’s perspective, but is it in the best interests of the management company, the leaseholders and the block?

With ground rent recovery increasingly in the spotlight, both managing agents and freeholders must take care to ensure recovery procedures are legal, in line with the terms of the lease and – importantly – in the best interests of the RMC and leaseholders.

Click here to read the full article.

 

 

 

The Service Charge Code – is change on its way?

Thursday, January 11th, 2018 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Service Charge

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) announced in October 2017 that a fourth edition of the Service Charge Code for Commercial Property was under deliberation.

Ahead of it’s proposed launch on 01 April 2018 Monika Holyst of Freeths Solicitors has provided some insight into the draft fourth edition of the Code.

Read the full article here.

 

 

Repair or replace? Sometimes it’s the landlord’s decision

Monday, October 16th, 2017 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, Residential, Service Charge

One of the main issues faced by landlords making a repair or replace decision concerns the recovery of such costs through the service charge.

In a recent article Zara Saunders of Shoosmiths comments that Service charge recovery can be a matter fraught with difficulty, even in the sphere of commercial property where no statutory limitation applies. Property owners may only recover costs to the extent permitted by a lease and issues frequently arise regarding whether an item of expenditure is one of repair or improvement and to what extent recovery might be permissible. Tenants will generally expect to pay the cost of repairs but not improvements.

Read the full article here.

Are you a seller/landlord? Why replies to property enquiries must be accurate and up to-date

Tuesday, October 4th, 2016 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Residential, Service Charge

In an article by Mills and Reeve, a tenant of part of a building had some concerns regarding the service charge. Due to these concerns, payment of the service charge was withheld by the tenant. There was correspondence between the tenant and the landlord’s managing agent’s solicitor regarding this matter and a service charge dispute had arisen on at least five occasions. In readiness for a sale of the property, draft replies to commercial property standard enquiries were prepared and the replies said that there were no disputes outstanding, likely or in the past and that there were no service charge arrears. The buyer’s solicitors asked for further information in relation to the service charge accounts and collection period. This information was not provided. Consequently, the court decided that the buyer was entitled to terminate the sale contract, have the deposit returned and to receive damages for deceit.

Read the full article here

Long awaited decision on Ft-T Rule 13 costs released

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Service Charge

Hardwicke’s report that the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has now published its long awaited decision concerning the proper interpretation of the power to award costs for unreasonable conduct of proceedings. The decision, determining 3 conjoined appeals in which in every case the appellant had had an order for costs made against it, will be of interest to all who appear in the Tribunal on residential property cases…

Read the full article here

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