Our costs for the above (not including attendance at a Tribunal hearing) are as follows:

• £1,950 plus VAT and disbursements together with £40 plus VAT for postage and packaging, per flat for 2 to 9 flats
• £1,650 plus VAT and disbursements together with £40 plus VAT for postage andpackaging, per flat for 10 to 19 flats
• £1,250 plus VAT and disbursements together with £40 plus VAT for postage andpackaging, per flat for 20 to 29 flats

In addition to the fees quoted above, our fees for identity checks will be charged as follows: £30 plus VAT per individual, £50 plus VAT per company or £50 plus VAT per overseas individual. 

Please note: for tax purposes we would advise that all participating tenants extend their leases to 999 years immediately after completion of the freehold acquisition. If the leases are extended immediately, the consideration you pay for the freehold is deemed to be payment for the lease extension also.  As such there can be no increase in value between when the freehold is acquired and when the leases are granted and therefore there can be no chargeable gain. You should seek tax advice in this regard if you have any concerns.

The lease extension is not included in our enfranchisement fixed fee and our additional costs are £750 plus VAT and disbursements per flat.

Disbursements (items we pay out on your behalf payable no matter which firm you instruct which are shared between the participants)

• £45 Land Registry fees*
• Company Incorporation Fee – Allow between £80 and £150
• £20 to register a Unilateral Notice to protect your claim against the freehold title
• £9-20 per flat for Official Copy Entries
• £10 plus VAT Bank Fee for instant Telegraphic Transfer to ensure the funds are received by your landlord
• £110 Tribunal Application and £220 Tribunal Hearing fees
• Stamp Duty Land Tax if the purchase price is above £125,000 (see below)

* if the premium you pay the Landlord is above £80,000 then the Land Registry fees will increase by the following: 

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

If a flat’s contribution is above £125,000 then you will have to pay SDLT to HMRC. This is payable at the following rates:

A SDLT return is required for a contribution over £40,000 although no tax is payable up to £125,000.

If you own more than one property your flat’s contribution may be subject to the higher rate of SDLT. This is payable at the following rates:

Legal Costs That Are Not Included

Please note that the following legal costs are not included in the service however they are very unlikely (less than 1% of applications issued):

• Costs for us having to attend a First Tier Tribunal hearing. The costs for a day hearing will be £1,000 plus VAT however be represented just by your surveyor if the dispute relates to the purchase price only.
• If an application to the County Court is required for a vesting order then additional costs of £1,000 plus VAT will be charged with a Court fee of £332 for making an initial application. If the application is required due to the fact you are unable to complete within two months of the terms (i.e. the premium and lease) being agreed, then it is highly likely you will be liable for the landlord’s litigation costs which we would estimate to be in the region of £5,000 – £10,000. It is for this reason that you must ensure you are able to raise completion funds before embarking on the statutory procedure. 

The first stage is to establish whether you qualify and collate information on the property (specifically lease and copy titles). Once this is established you should enter into a participation agreement with the other leaseholders which will contain primarily your obligations towards payment of the premium and costs.

Also you should consider how you wish to hold the freehold on completion i.e in your joint names or set up a company. The main disadvantage with a company is that there are annual running costs for filing accounts and an annual return. However owning the freehold through a company makes matters easier in the event one of the leaseholders sells their flat in the future. It also means the obligations and liabilities of running the freehold will be vested in the company and not the leaseholders names individually i.e they will benefit from the concept of limited liability. Our best advice would be for you to set up a company although the choice is yours.

In order to be in a position to serve an Initial Notice (the formal notice starting the claim) you need to instruct a surveyor to calculate the premium payable to the freeholder.

Once the valuation has been received the Initial Notice can be finalised (inserting the lowest justifiable premium advised by your surveyor) and served on the freeholder. The freeholder will then have two months in which to respond with his/her Counter Notice. Once the Counter Notice is served by the freeholder (which will no doubt include the highest possible justifiable premium as a counter offer to the premium you have offered) there will be a period of up to 6 months thereafter for the parties surveyors to agree the premium and all other terms (such as the form of Transfer).

If terms cannot be agreed an application to the First Tier Property Tribunal will have to be made requesting the Tribunal to determine the issues in dispute in any event by no later than 6 months from the date of the Counter Notice. If an application has not been made by this time and terms have not been agreed your application would be deemed withdrawn in which case you would not be apply for the freehold for a further 12 months and you would be liable to pay the landlord’s costs.

Once terms are agreed the freeholder title needs to be transferred to you or the company you have incorporated (depending on what you have decided). Following completion of the transfer your acquisition is registered at the Land Registry which finalises the procedure.