Residential Property
We provide expert property advice on a wide variety of residential property matters including market, lease extension, enfranchisement, probate and capital gains tax valuations; building surveys; landlord and tenant disputes; and negotiations in relation to all manner of issues, including ground rent reviews.
We have a specialist Leasehold Reform Department dealing with lease extension and enfranchisement valuations and related advice derived from the “Right of First Refusal” (Section 5 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985). The department is dedicated to the provision of professional advice not only on the valuation of premiums and negotiation, but also qualification – do buildings qualify and are the leaseholders qualifying tenants. We offer advice on the purchase of the freehold of blocks of flats, enfranchisement of houses and lease extensions. This specialist advice allows for the calculation of relativity and marriage value. Our graph and study on relativity is available by following the link: LBB Published Relativity Graph.
Justin Bennett, the head of Residential Valuation, has a number of leading cases relating to lease extensions and enfranchisement, particularly relating to the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, but not limited to that legislation. He has acted as Expert Witness at the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) under that Act and on valuation issues relating to Section 9(1) [old valuation basis] and Sections 9(1A) and 9(1C) [special valuation basis – which includes marriage value] of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 relating to houses or properties ‘reasonably so called houses’: such as mixed use properties with elements including offices, medical suites, shops and flats.
Willingale v Globalgrange Ltd [2000] 2EGLR 55 was one of the first cases under the leasehold enfranchisement legislation where the landlord was forced to accept the premium offered subject to the terms proposed.
Glen International v Triplerose Ltd (CA) [2007] 2 EGLR 81 related to proper service of a Section 42 Notice for a lease extension. The judgement was in the tenant’s favour and proper service was at the last known address under Section 47 and Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.
In both cases his clients were assisted by Anthony Radevsky of Falcon Chambers, the author of Hague on Leasehold Enfranchisement.
Most recently he appeared as an expert witness at the Central London County Court (before HHJ Marshall QC) in Anstruther v Vidas (2010), a case involving multiple valuation issues, including dilapidations and enfranchisement claims on a substantial mixed use building in South Kensington.
John Byers leads the Building Surveying team. He has over 25 years of experience in the property industry, having worked for both Local Authorities and Private Practices on both residential houses and blocks of flats. He has considerable experience in both private and social housing sectors. He has worked with a wide variety of clients on numerous projects throughout the UK, from traditional mansion flats and estate housing, to concrete framed tower blocks and system built properties.
John deals with a wide variety of building construction and valuation related matters including property and service charge disputes, expert evidence, the specification of building works, defect diagnosis, fire insurance valuation and leasehold reform work.
He regularly advises on property related disputes, providing expert advice and evidence in Court and at LVT. He also deals with pre-acquisition advices, building surveys, valuations and dilapidation matters. He regularly writes on building and property management issues for various publications including News on the Block and Flat Living Magazines.
Contacts
For advice, contact Justin Bennett: jlb@lbb.org.uk or John Byers: jhb@lbb.org.uk
