Freeholder charging excessive admin fees

[skerryflower]

I am the leaseholder of a two bed flat in London, and have just received my first bill for ground rent etc from the freeholder. It's a year's worth of ground rent, as he's failed to send me a bill before now, despite prodding.

The bill is currently made up of ground rent + insurance (which comes to £300) and then an entry for 'admin charges, incl legal and accountancy fees) which is an additional £300.

I've checked my lease, and there is no reference to my being liable for anything beyond ground rent, insurance and maintainance, and certainly no reference to my being liable for any accountancy costs. I queried this with the freeholder and he just said he'd always charged these costs in the past and has been told that he is legally entitled to charge this - he claims it's not realistic to expect him to make a loss from the freehold.

Is this accurate? Can he just add £300 on to the ground rent + insurance with legal fees? I'm very uncomfortable with this, but am not sure if I have a leg to stand on if I contest this.

[BADGER 69]

I am the freeholder of a leasehold flat and the only thing that I can charge the leaseholder for is ground rent, share of buildings insurance and his (the tenant) share of any maintenance/repairs to the building. I think you need to look at your lease to see if it includes anything else. I have just completed a degree coure in Land/Property Law and in that I did not come across anything that says that you can be charged for anything else. I could be wrong and I would like to know the result.

[Aequitas]

You only have to pay what the lease requires you to pay.

Most leases that provide for the tenant to pay management fees do so in terms that the tenant has to pay the fees of any managing agent; that does not include paying a landlord who carries out his own admin a fee for doing so - the lease must provide for it specifically.

So, write to the landlord and say you are not interested in what he has done in the past, but where it says in the lease that you have to pay his admin fee.

[kevin wood]

I have a freeholder who has not charged us anything for over a year. He hasnt sent us details of our insurance either and his landlord's electricity box for public uses, is met by own box(according to EDF investigators,)is covered by own in a house of four privately owned flats. The same hallway plays host to two further meters that belong to next door. Is hee anythng here that becom e a worry or danger?

robert