New Freehold Property Form Offers Increased Information To Confused Buyers

New Freehold Property Form Offers Increased Information To Confused Buyers

A new Freehold Management Enquiries form (FME1) is being launched in order to ensure buyers of a property, where a service charge or estate rent is likely to be charged, are fully aware of this fact before the conveyancing process is complete.

14 cross-industry trade and representative bodies, including the Law Society of England & Wales, have collaborated on the venture to ensure the questionnaire is robust and provides potential buyers with the additional information that may not have been offered during the ‘fleecehold’ mis-selling scandal.

The form will provide clarity on what the buyer will be liable to contribute and the exact prices that will be charged. Full details of any contribution required, who organises the maintenance arrangements for the shared areas, estimated increases to these amounts and who owes what will appear in the report. It is thought that this information will provide the buyer with full transparency and understanding of their obligations before they venture too far down the purchasing process.

The information that will be implemented and used on the questionnaire would come from ‘the Rent Charge Owner, the Management Company, the Managing Agent or any appointed representative of them.’

In the current conveyancing process, this information lacks a cohesive standardised approach with individual conveyancers raising their own questions. The new system will ensure that the sector’s responses are standardised and thorough, improving the information that buyers will receive.

Russell Hewitson, Chair of the Conveyancing and Land Law Committee, Law Society of England & Wales said: “It is good to have so many organisations involved in the production of this form and endorsing this set of enquiries for freehold properties which are subject to service charge payments.

“As it has now been made clear by government that it is looking to developers to sell houses as freehold rather than leasehold this may mean an increase in freehold estates involving charges for services that everyone on the estate shares – such as roads.

“We hope it will be easier for conveyancers and for those answering the questions to have a standard form.”

Will this system create a more robust and thorough information source for potential buyers? Will this prevent buyers from purchasing property without a clear understanding of their obligations? Does more need to be done to help buyers purchasing leasehold property?

Martin Parrin

Martin is a Senior Content Writer for Today’s Conveyancer, Today’s Wills and Probate, Today’s Legal Cyber Risk and Today's Family Lawyer Having qualified as a teacher, Martin previously worked as a Secondary English Teacher that responsible for Head of Communications. After recently returning to the North West from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, Martin has left teaching to start a career in writing and pursue his lifelong passion with the written word.

2 Comments

  • It is hoped that the current round of leasehold law reform will require that

    1 landlords/agents etc use technology that automatically populates this form on a day-to-day basis for each propery and

    2 a current print out must be supplied with sales particulars without cost or request.

    And provide appropriate sanctions for failure.

  • I would hope that this measure would help bring about the end to the whole “private estate” rip-off.
    I would hope that this, on top of MPs’ proposed rigorous capping and monitoring of these fees, as well as improved legal rights for freehold homeowners, will ensure that developers start falling over themselves to hand new estates over for full council adoption.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *