united-kingdom england-and-wales residential-lease fees
What &#39;Notice of charge&#39; fee applies when not specifed in a lease?
<p>I'm a leaseholder of a flat, currently going through a remortgage in the UK. The lender's solicitor has told me that they're waiting to hear back from the landlord on what &quot;notice of charge&quot; fee is applicable and they won't proceed under they have that information.</p>
<p>There is a section on &quot;Notices&quot; in my lease, but no fee mentioned at all — neither to an amount explicitly, nor any reference (e.g. &quot;a reasonable fee&quot;). One clause does say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Section  196  of  the  Law  of  Property  Act  1925  shall  otherwise  apply  to  notices  given under this lease.</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>I've double-checked <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/20/section/196" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Section 196 of the Law Property Act
1925</a>
but there isn't a reference to fees there either.</li>
<li>I've tried searching online, but can't find any definitive source — <a href="https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/forum/long-leasehold-questions/1101964-notice-fee" rel="nofollow noreferrer">One post on this forum</a> says that the landlord can charge any amount if it's not specified in the lease.</li>
<li>(I've also checked for previous questions here, but they seem to be US-focused.)</li>
</ul>
<p>Is there some fallback amount (either legislation or through guidance) that would apply in cases like this?</p>
<p>Or is this really the case that the landlord can charge an abitrary amount?</p>

<p>Administration charges (ie non-rent payments) are covered by s.158 and <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/15/schedule/11?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Schedule 11 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002</a> which says that such charges must be reasonable and that a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/housing-tribunals" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tribunal</a> may, on application, vary the lease accordingly.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Meaning of “<em>administration charge</em>”</p>
<p>1(1) In this Part of this Schedule “administration charge” means an amount payable by a tenant of a dwelling as part of or in addition to the rent which is payable, directly or indirectly —</p>
<ul>
<li><p>(a) for or in connection with the grant of approvals under his lease, or applications for such approvals,</p>
</li>
<li><p>(b) for or in connection with the provision of information or documents by or on behalf of the landlord or a person who is party to his lease otherwise than as landlord or tenant</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>...</p>
<p>1(3)  this Part of this Schedule “variable administration charge” means an administration charge payable by a tenant which is neither —</p>
<ul>
<li><p>(a) specified in his lease, nor</p>
</li>
<li><p>(b) calculated in accordance with a formula specified in his lease.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>(2) <strong>A variable administration charge is payable only to the extent that the amount of the charge is reasonable.</strong></p>
<p>3(1) Any party to a lease of a dwelling may apply to the appropriate tribunal for an order varying the lease in such manner as is specified in the application on the grounds that—</p>
<ul>
<li><p>(a) any administration charge specified in the lease is unreasonable, or</p>
</li>
<li><p>(b) any formula specified in the lease in accordance with which any administration charge is calculated is unreasonable.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>However, there is no specific definition of what is &quot;<em>reasonable</em>&quot; and each case will be fact dependent - presumably by reference to industry averages or some other similar datasets.</p>
