With initial valuation advice first provided in August 2010, it was not until March 2013 that the premium for the freehold of this property was finally agreed.
The building, a church converted into 34 self-contained flats in the 1980s, is located in the east end of London E14 – Tower Hamlets. The values of the flats ranged from £200,000 to £250,000 and the leases were approximately 73 years unexpired at the date of the Notice of Claim.
Enfranchisement claims for flat owners can be slow and time consuming, as demonstrated in this case by the delay of just under 2 years from August 2010 to September 2012, which was the date that a Notice of Claim was finally served. The final premium agreed with the Landlord was within the target range, and the matter settled without referral to a Tribunal.
myleasehold successfully negotiated a saving close to £170,000 down from the Landlord’s Counter Notice. One lesson to flat owners considering an enfranchisement is to act as quickly as possible. In this case the premium had increased from the date of the original valuation advice. The two main contributing factors were that the leases were shorter by 2 years and the values of the flats had increased during the intervening period, further compounding the premium.