Often, a freeholder or freehold company will appoint a managing agent. The agent will be responsible for collection of the service charge, maintenance issues and sometimes arranging licences for alterations with the leaseholders. When a leaseholder comes to sell his property, his solicitors will contact the managing agent and request a management pack, to include the various information and documentation that his buyer’s solicitors will expect to see.
Even in the above situation, there will most likely be some information that needs to be obtained directly from the freeholder – for example, information on the collection of ground rent. However, the bulk of the information will be provided by the managing agent.
If you are a non- or semi-professional freeholder and have chosen to manage the leasehold property yourself, it can be a puzzling thing to have to think about having to put together a management pack. You might not have to deal with this sort of solicitor’s enquiry more than once in many years.
Luckily, there is a form to guide you. Form LPE1 asks all the questions that you will need to answer in the first instance, and all the documents you need to provide. The form is for you to fill in. You can charge a reasonable sum for providing this information.
The LPE1 serves everybody’s interests for information that is needed for a conveyancing transaction to be provided quickly and in an easy to understand format, and if you are in the situation above and have been approached by us on behalf of one of our clients – your leaseholder – and if you are unsure of how to proceed then please feel welcome to get in touch with us. We can provide you with advice and assistance or point you in the right direction and explain to you the sort of information you need to obtain.
If you wish to contact Hanne and Co on this or on any other matter, please telephone us on 0207 228 0017.
