We live in a seven-year-old house and pay £250 ground rent a year. We turned down the chance to buy the freehold when we bought the house, and the builder sold it on. Now a management company is asking a fee of £108 just to tell us today’s price for the freehold. Our neighbours can get an instant quote over the ‘phone from a different freehold owner. Do we have any rights in this area?
Your freehold owner can charge you a reasonable fee for providing this information if your lease agreement authorises him to do so. Not otherwise. But like most things, the freehold price will be negotiable. Find out what your neighbours are being asked for theirs, and offer the same figure to your management company. It’s likely to be identical, and they may accept your offer.