A Landlord should receive compensation for what he is entitled to but not necessarily what he wants. This precept was put to task during a lease extension for a flat worth £260,000 subject to a lease of 84 years. Acting for the Tenant, we valued the premium be worth £4,900, which was at odds to the Landlord’s rigid position of £10,000. After several months the Landlord did improve this position to £8,000, which we still considered to be excessive and unreasonable.
We told the Landlord’s surveyor that we would apply to the LVT for their determination, but that it would be in everyone’s interest for a compromise to be found prior to a hearing.
Realising that the Landlord’s position and attitude was unreasonable, we settled at a premium of £6,000, which while above our target, was a fair compromise that prevented the unrecoverable LVT costs being spent by our client. The client’s testimonial was very favourable, as they knew that we had to bide our time and ‘chip away’ at the Landlord’s surveyor, encouraging a common sense approach to what was a modest value transaction.