Hi,

I assume that your solicitors on your purchase checked the address on the freehold title ie. the upstairs flat.

A practical way of trying to find a service address for the freeholder is to check your ground rent and service charge demands. Presumably you have done this and either the address is given as the upstairs flat or no address is given.

Ground rent:

Since 28 February 2005 any demand for ground rent by a freeholder, or their managing agents, must be made in a “prescribed form” as set out in Section 166 of the Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
If the ground rent is not demanded in this prescribed form, and completed in accordance with section 166, the tenant is not liable to make payment unless, and until, it is properly demanded.

The notice must contain the landlord’s address for service.

Service charges:

Section 153 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, with effect from 1 October 2007 requires that "A demand for the payment of a service charge must be accompanied by a summary of the rights and obligations of tenants of dwellings in relation to service charges" & accordingly a tenant may withhold payment of a service charge which has been demanded from him / her if the requirement to provide the summary is not complied with in relation to the demand"

Any demands must also state the address for service of the landlord pursuant to section 47 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.

Failure to provide a correct address for service means that you may be entitled to refuse to pay ground rent and service charges until such sums are properly demanded.

A practical way to recover monies is to make an on-line small claims Money Claim and if you have not been given any alternative address and the freehold title remains registered as the upstairs flat then you are entitled to include such address in the application the upstairs flat. Check your lease to check that it does not contain an address for service. If the claim is not passed on to the freeholder by the tenants then you will get a default judgement that your landlord would have to contest on the basis that he was not served but you would find out the address and the court should be sympathetic if you can demonstrate that you tried to obtain it.

The procedure is very simple and there is very limited exposure to costs in the event that the judgement went against you. Generally, solicitors fees are not recoverable by either party.

If there is a legal charge registered against the freehold then it is worth getting a copy (on-line via the Land Registry web-site) to see whether an alternative address is provided.

Alternatively, if the issues in questions are not strictly limited to a fixed amount, i.e. nuisance / failure to repair then you can apply to the First Tier Tribunal that is a relatively easy procedure and is set up for lay persons. Also, costs are not generally recoverable (i.e. legal costs) unless the landlord can recover them under the service charges under your lease but even if so, you can as part of the application apply to have any such costs deemed irrecoverable if you can demonstrate to the Tribunal that the application was necessary (you should seek solicitors advice on this point and expressly point out that such exclusion of costs should be included in the application as I have seen it overlooked and tenants paying for the landlord's solicitors fees via the service charge even when successful in the judgement). If you have a telephone number or e-mail address you should first serve a seven days pre-action notice and request a service address to demonstrate to the Tribunal that you have been reasonable.

Also, if any past service charges or ground rent have not been demanded correctly you could seek the recovery of such sums although it depends on the amounts in question whether it is worthwhile

In summary, there is a significant statutory burden on the landlord and it is often the case that problem landlord's have not complied with a number of the statutory provisions. For instance have you seen a copy of the Fire Risk Assessment etc.

I think that seeking the advice of a solicitor would be the first course of action rather than considering moving as you may experience difficulties on a sale without proper service charge accounts being provided and landlord's replies to enquiries.

The first place to check the landlord's obligations is your lease.

The above is given without any liability and you should seek the advice of a solicitor.

This post was last modified: 18-08-2014 03:01 PM by Chipcity.