News

Residential Leases are typically granted for long periods of time, such as 99 or 125 years. As the obligations and duties under a Lease are set when it is granted, the terms of long residential Leases can become outdated or irrelevant throughout such an extended period of time.

Two recent decisions of the First Tier Tribunal ("FTT") have explored the issues surrounding a Landlord’s ability to recover service charges in relation to the provision of a ‘waking watch’ service.

Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 qualifying leaseholders have the right to extend their lease for a further 90 years at a peppercorn ground rent. The tenant will have to pay a premium for the new lease and can propose that the new lease is on different terms to the existing lease.

A number of issues need to be considered where a landlord intends to replace the front doors of leaseholders’ flats. The need to replace doors often arises as a result of the requirement to meet recommendations following fire safety assessments.

Question: A leaseholder has a 125 year lease for a flat but has allowed service arrears to build up. Unfortunately, the debt dates back many years. The landlord has approached the leaseholder for payment but they have said that the debt is over 6 years old so no legal action can be taken against them

We are delighted to announce that we have been re-appointed to the Housing Associations' Legal Alliance framework.

Almost every planning agreement has an affordable housing provision. If developers don’t comply and provide affordable housing on one site, they will have to provide the equivalent elsewhere within the borough on another scheme they’re working on.

Devonshires are acutely aware of how important it is for our clients to maximise the recovery of service charges as this allows our clients to provide the high level of service that they strive for.

The Data Protection Act 2018 ("DPA 2018") received Royal Assent on 23 May 2018 and is now an Act of Parliament.

Mr Worthington and Ms Parkin were long-term assured tenants of Metropolitan Housing Trust, living on the same estate.

On the 17th May we held our first ever Devonshires Conference which focused on the biggest challenges affecting the UK’s social housing sector.

Our new spotlight series gives an insight into the diverse people that work for Devonshires. Here Ben Tarbard talks about switching from General Office Clerk to Paralegal and his plans to become a Chartered Legal Executive.