… and avoiding informal negotiations with your freeholder is well advised, as made very clear here
LKP felt it would be useful to have an article introducing ALEP, and why leaseholders needing to extend their leases should know about it. The excellent work of Leasehold Solutions, which was a founder member, is known to LKP readers here
How did ALEP come about and what does it aim to do for leaseholders/flat owners?
ALEP, the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners, was founded in 2007 by brother and sister Alex Greenslade and Anna Bailey (above). They had previously also created the largest leasehold enfranchisement project management company, Leasehold Solutions (‘LS’).
In the late 1990s, Alex was the owner of a leasehold flat with a relatively short lease.
His freeholder offered the opportunity to extend his lease, but on terms that were unfavourable.
Ultimately, he instead managed the freehold acquisition of his block on behalf of his neighbours and himself.
A business school graduate, former investment banker and market researcher, he saw the opportunity to do what he had done for his own block by offering a similar service to other flat owners in neighbouring properties with the same freeholder and lease length and, over the course of the next two years, enabled some 200 other leaseholders to ‘enfranchise’.
Leasehold Solutions was born out of Alex’s initial experience, various competitors emerged, and the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) had a page on its website listing them.
However, in 2006, the page was removed overnight by LEASE because of a complaint made against one of the firms listed.
As the then chief executive, Peter Haler, explained, unlike complaints about solicitors and valuers listed on the site, there was no professional body such as the Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority or RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) to which complainants could be referred.
With a view to protecting consumers against rogue practices, Alex and Anna decided that, if there were no official body, they would create one.
They contacted Peter Haler to discuss their plans, but he urged them to go further, by creating an association for the entire sector.
He had also become so weary of receiving complaints about some solicitors and valuers listed on the LEASE site that he was even contemplating ending their lists!
He felt that there was a gap for a ‘quality circle’, to act as a badge of reassurance for users of the members’ services.
So, Alex and Anna set about creating ALEP, which was launched at the end of May 2007.
Its primary aim is to raise standards within the leasehold enfranchisement sector. Membership indicates to potential clients that they are not dealing with ‘dabblers’. Any organisation that wishes to join has to pass a vetting process and must adhere to its code of practice.
ALEP is now on the threshold of its tenth anniversary and has attracted nearly 200 members, including all of the big names, as well as barristers and some managing agents. The organisation is still true to its initial aims, but over the last nine years it has evolved into doing so much more, including:
• Educating many leaseholders about their rights;
• Getting legislation changed;
• Passing leads to its members;
• Being consulted by the government and others; and
• Holding many conferences that educate and inform those within the sector.
Perhaps more importantly than any of the above, it has provided a framework for those involved in the sector to network, compare notes and agree best practice, which is to the advantage of anyone needing representation to help them navigate the minefield of the leasehold sector.
ALEP is a not-for-profit organisation that is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. It is governed by an elected committee and has a constitution and code of practice, both of which can be viewed on its website, www.alep.org.uk. The Workshop, 32-40 Tontine Street, Folkestone CT20 1JU. Tel: 0845 225 2277 (local call rates apply)
Related posts:
LEASE: we need to make a million pounds a year by 2020
Is this LEASE being ‘unapologetically on the side of leaseholders’, Mr Barwell?
LEASE should not pitch callers into ALEP’s ‘den of cheque books’
Now LEASE survival is at stake … it wants to meet the ‘stakeholders’
Bottomley tells BBC R4: Clear out sector stooges from LEASE. Stop barring LKP trustees. Bring justice quickly to leasehold house owners.
Since house prices have gone up- does that mean the cost of lease extension has too? And does ground rent revert to peppercorn after the extension?
Provided the lease has not fallen below 80 years and is not subject to marriage provisions and provided you do not succumb to the entreaties of “friendly” freeholders to informally negotiate a lease extension and you insist on your statutory 90 year extension, it will be the ground rent premium that decides the cost of any extension.
actually this is inaccurate- lease extension premiums are also based on interest rates/gilts and other factors; the bottomline in lease extensions is: valuers can and will often disagree at the expense of the “poor” leaseholder- What do they care? all these people (solicitors, valuers) get paid /sometimes upfront/ regardless of outcome; Lease extensions can be summed up in “damn if yo do, and damn if you don’t”.
Yes they do get paid upfront, but what else can we do?
-Lease extensions (whether formal or informal) are a “legal” scam;
-Flaws and complexity in LVT/ FTT system have been revealed by the LKP.
-Many barristers have admitted the process is skewed in favour of professional freeholders.
-Not clear what vested interested participated/lobbied to draft this bit of the 1993 Act.
-Lease extensions are based on “valuations” which is not and never will be a “science” despite the pompous title of “chartered surveyor”.
ALEP is a charity but hundreds of law firms subscribe to it in the hope they will bring them pooled business
-I believe ALEP linked to a commercial organisation called: “Leasehold Solutions”
Millions of people are being taken hostage (“tied up in chains”) in the leasehold system.
All residential leases should be converted to commonhold.
–
Although I agree with most of the above, especially that leasehold should be abolished and convert into share of freehold / commonhold, in the meantime renew your leases. The earlier done the better. It’s painful to have to pay the scambag freeholder, (in our case un uknown entity who neglects the building and employs atrocious managing agents in breach of every obligation you can think of) it is best to renew now than let it fall under 80 years. Then the freeholder will have a real party, as I think we are his grandchildrens trust fund…
…and again do your research before instructing a solicitor. It’s amazing how many of them should NOT be on the ALEP recommended list.
Very good point “Leaseholder”- While a few highly experienced Barristers admit lease extensions can be tricky (even for those with property litigation experience) ALEP boasts hundreds of solicitor firms as members, who claim to have expertise in this highly volatile legislation..and proudly display the “ALEP” logo on their website, as if it was a passed professional exam; Surely not of all them can provide evidence of their expertise and references. At present hundreds of solicitor firms claim to have expertise in “lease extensions/enfranchisement as well as any other law area under the sun. Worth reminding that too often the lessee bears ALL the risks.
That is also true – though I was referring to solicitors with less than perfect credentials rather than just incompetent ones…it’s always worth checking solicitors out here : https://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page That is by no means sufficient as some ‘disciplinary ‘ issues only show for a couple of years and then they disappear.