5 minute read
interview
LesLeY DAVis talks to Alex Greenslade to find out more about ALEP and the way it works on behalf of members and the public
The AssociATion of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners or ALEP was the brainchild of Honorary Secretary Alex Greenslade, who was largely responsible for founding the organisation in 2007. Alex, a project manager and MD of Croydon-based Leasehold Solutions, saw an opportunity to bring together solicitors, surveyors, enfranchisement intermediaries and managing agents to promote best practice and provide networking opportunities for those working in the leasehold enfranchisement sector. Fed up with his clients coming to him having been given poor advice by people “dabbling” in this complex area of leasehold law, Alex saw a gap in the market which he believes ALEP is filling effectively. The organisation now has 115 members who have been vigorously vetted to ensure they have the skills in place that the public need when appointing someone to advise them on their lease extension, freehold purchase or management issues.
For leaseholders, the benefit of using an ALEP member to advise them is that each member has been checked out by a knowledgeable professional and comes backed by ALEP’s code of practice. If members are found to be operating in breach of the code or are simply doing a bad job, they are taken off the ALEP list of recommended advisers. “The aim,” Alex explains, “is to give the public confidence that they are dealing with professionals who know what they’re doing”.
For leasehold practitioners, ALEP not only provides a source of leads due to the membership list on the website but the organisation also provides a forum for communication, networking and events. “Everyone gets to know each other and that promotes knowledge and information exchange as well as a spirit of cooperation among the different professions. Solicitors can be comfortable in the knowledge that they are recommending a competent fellow ALEP member if clients are looking for a surveyor and vice versa,” says Alex.
In order to become ALEP members, firms are asked to submit details of their experience to-date in matters such as leasehold acquisitions and Right to Manage. They also have to provide copies of their professional indemnity insurance (PII) and provide both client and professional references from people who are not related to them either personally or professionally. Telephone interviews are then carried out by ALEP to determine the firm’s suitability for membership. “When practitioners renew their membership we make sure that expertise is still with the firm, checking that the expert or experts in leasehold matters hasn’t left and ask to see their current PII certificate,” Alex explains. Members are then able to use the ALEP branding on their website and letterheads and are listed on the website so the public can identify a practitioner in their area. However, Alex believes that membership is a two-way process: “You have to put in some effort to attend events and use the ALEP logo to make it work for you,” he says.
According to Alex, ALEP also represents a step in the right direction towards effective self-regulation. “Members are expected to abide by the rules and provide an efficient, professional service. The public can trust a firm that is displaying the ALEP branding and if that company or individual doesn’t perform well, they have somewhere to go to lodge a complaint and know that it will be dealt with. We believe we are all part of a group that raises its own game by being part of it,” he adds. He believes self-regulation is preferable to regulatory legislation being enforced on the sector for the simple reason that the industry is in the best position to know what needs to be done. “It shows a level of maturity and reason to put your own house in order before someone else attempts to do it for you,” he says. “We are all well aware that service charges are clearly a big issue: leaseholders are often overcharged and there has been a lot of bad publicity for unprofessional managing agents. They all get tarred with the same
Project manager Alex Greenslade saw a gap in the market that he believes ALEP now fills
brush but to the best of my knowledge no one has researched the problem to find out how widespread it is in reality”.
With the future of the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) still uncertain, ALEP has been in discussion with the organisation to determine whether or not it might take on some of the work that LEASE may no longer be able to do. “Around 80% of the enquiries received from the public by LEASE relate to service charges,” Alex explains. “That’s not really our area. Our focus is on the other 20% that relates to enfranchisement, lease extensions and right to manage. When we find out what is happening we are hoping we can take up some of the slack and provide the public with the information they need.”
Unlike LEASE, which is a governmentfunded organisation, ALEP takes a stance on leasehold issues on behalf of its members. “There are some ridiculous anomalies in current legislation that need to be tackled,” says Alex and ALEP has drawn the attention of ministers to two points in particular. See box.
“We are only asking for minor change, not wholesale leasehold reform but there is no will on the part of the government to act on behalf of the leasehold sector,” he says. However, he believes that one good thing that has changed in recent years is that “we have seen the disappearance of the mythology about lease length”. He explains that it is now more or less accepted that if you buy a flat you can’t get a mortgage on a non-central London property with less than 80 years on the lease. Lease length should really be tackled as part of the homebuying process rather than something that is tackled in a panic when you come to sell, he says. “If there is one really good piece of advice that we can offer leaseholders it is to get them to look at the length of their lease at the outset. It makes the process of extending leases less traumatic and people are likely to get a better deal.” ●
What’s Wrong With leasehold?
*to A Power of Attorney cannot be used sign a Section 42 Notice for a lease extension or a Section 13 Notice for a freehold acquisition, which causes many problems particularly for elderly property owners; and * to Anyone extending their lease is required pay a deposit when none is payable when purchasing the freehold.
