Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 in Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Residential, Service Charge
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 sets out detailed requirements and preconditions, which must be observed by landlords when they seek to recover the cost of works to a property from residential tenants by way of service charge. In an article by Paris Smith LLP, it is noted that in the case of Daejan Investments Limited v Benson, the statutory consultation requirements were not observed in their entirety by the landlord and the Court of Appeal concluded that the consequences for the landlord being unable to recover the service charge fully was significant and wasn’t a relevant factor when deciding whether or not to waive the consultation requirements. In consequence, the liability of the five residential tenants was restricted to £250 each (substantially less than they would have been liable for had the landlord complied with provisions of the 1985 legislation).
Read the full article here
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, News
‘Green Leases’ or Commercial Lease Arrangements for Sustainable Buildingsare becoming increasingly popular. A ‘Green Lease’ is a lease of a commercial or public building, which incorporates an agreement between a landlord and a tenant as to how a building is to be occupied, operated and managed in a sustainable way.
Read the full article from Ogier here
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 in Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Residential
Coffin Mew & Clover point out that f rom 1st October 2010 the rental threshold for Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) has increased from £25,000 per annum to £100,000 per annum. The increase applies retrospectively.
Read the full article here
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 in Commercial, Landlord, News, Residential
Break options can be an invaluable asset for Tenants in tough economic times. Gordons LLP has highlighted that they offer the promise of flexibility and can be a handy tool for re-negotiating terms with the Landlord. Tenants must beware taking their break option for granted given the many pitfalls to be avoided.
Read the full article here
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Residential, Service Charge
With the economic climate remaining uncertain, service charges are continuing to give rise to tensions between landlords and their tenants. Tenants are scrutinising service charge accounts for unjustified costs and best value whereas landlords are more cautious about incurring costs unless recovery through the service charge is likely.
Read McGrigors full Guide here.
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Service Charge
The Practical Law Company has posted the revised RICS code on service charges in commercial leases, which has been released for comment.
Obtain a copy of the draft here
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 in Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Residential, Service Charge
A technical release has been developed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants to provide guidance on accounting for residential variable service charges and covers the treatment of service charges in the accounts of the ‘landlord’ or other entity that levies service charges for the maintenance of the common parts of the property. The guidance also covers independent accountants’ reports on service charge accounts, based on agreed-upon procedures, where the terms of the relevant lease or leases do not require an audit to be carried out. The guidance focuses on accounting for service charges by residents’ management companies and similar, ie, companies where the members are also leaseholders paying variable service charges, because experience shows there to be widespread confusion about the interaction of the statutory accounting provisions of the Companies Act 2006, the information requirements of the property lease or leases, and the statutory trust provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. Commercial landlords are equally subject to the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Acts (LTAs) 1985 and 1987, but the issues are more clear-cut because there is generally no overlap between landlord/members of the landlord company, and leaseholders/tenants paying variable service charges. The guidance does not, therefore, deal with the statutory accounts of such entities, although the material on the trust status of service charge monies, and on the preparation of service charge accounts themselves, does apply. Obtain a copy of the Technical Release here
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, News
Capital Shopping Centres , the UK’s largest mall owner, saw a “discernible improvement” in demand for its properties, notably from retailers chasing a short supply of larger shop units.
“The impact of the reduced supply of new high quality retail space is increasingly apparent in letting negotiations,” Chief Executive David Fischel said in a trading update. Occupancy at CSC’s established centres is 98.8%…..
Read the full article here
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 in Commercial, Landlord, Managing Agent, News, Residential, Service Charge
Confusion can often arise surrounding the precise identity of the landlord, which has been the subject of much litigation in recent years, as this article from Shepherd and Wedderburn points out.
The latest example of this is the recent case of Standard Life Investments Property Holdings Ltd v W & J Linney Limited [2010] EWHC 480 (Ch) (reported in July 2010), another example which illustrates the importance of a tenant knowing the identity of its landlord. Here, the tenant……
Read the full article here.
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 in Managing Agent, News, Service Charge
Housing Minister Grant Shapps has called on the country’s housing associations to follow the Government’s lead and throw open their books and expose how they spend money. He feels that all institutions that receive public money should be subject to the same scrutiny. Read the full article here.
