Rights as a leaseholder
As the leaseholder, you have more rights than you might think. A wide range of rights set out in the legislation and advice is readily available. However, where a dispute arises, the first step should be to ask the landlord or managing agent for full details or an explanation. Your rights include
Information: your freeholder must provide their name and a contact address within England or Wales which must be stated on every demand for ground rent and service charges.
Consultation on major (qualifying) works: the freeholder should not carry out major works to your building, costing you more than £250 without first adequately consulting you.
Challenging service and administration charges: you can apply to the First-Tier Tribunal. You can apply to the Tribunal to seek a determination of the liability to pay and reasonableness of expenses arising from the lease in addition to the service charge.
Appointing a manager: if you are dissatisfied with the property manager that your freeholder has assigned, you apply the Tribunal to appoint a new manager (except where the landlord is a housing association or local authority).
Buying the freehold: you and other leaseholder surrounding you who satisfy certain conditions can get together and enforce the sale of the freehold by the leaseholder to you, with the price being agreed between the parties or, if this is not possible, set by -the Tribunal.
Right of first refusal: in most cases, where the freeholder proposes to sell the freehold, he must offer it to you and the other leaseholders first. It is a criminal offence for the freeholder not to comply. There are some exceptions to this requirement, including housing associations and local authority landlords.
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