With the “lockdown” measures and its impact in place for a number of weeks, we are pleased to report most practitioners have successfully overcome the practical difficulties created.
The recently published Corona Virus Act 2020 does not consider the method of service and any extensions of time for service of Notices under the enfranchisement legislation. The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) have therefore issued a protocol encouraging parties to accept service of documents by email and to allow parties to agree extensions of time to statutory deadlines during the pandemic.
ALEP has also written to the Lord Chancellor and the Housing Minister, calling for the Government for legislation to extend statutory deadlines for a period of three months once the “lockdown” is over. To date, no response has been received.
In times where most lawyers find themselves working from home, the practicalities of complying with the provisions of the enfranchisement statute concerning services of Notices and compliance with timetables remain difficult and sometimes confusing. Wallace LLP has adopted ALEP’s protocol and recommended that our clients do likewise to allow claims to proceed as normal. Where practitioners do not agree to adopt the protocol, we are complying with the timetables and requirements for service of Notices. Valuers are undertaking desktop valuations and claims to acquire new leases or the freehold are being made.
We are progressing those cases with practical obstacles or before the Tribunal and encouraging compliance with directions that are otherwise suspended as it allows parties to make progress and possibly settle, thereby saving costs later on when the Tribunal re-opens. The Tribunal have also moved forward to offer parties paper determinations or to conduct video enabled hearings.
The enfranchisement sector is very much proceeding as normal.
Samantha Bone, Partner at Wallace LLP
The information in this article was prepared on 11 May 2020. The law and practice is currently changing daily, so please check the up to date position before acting on anything you read here.
