What 'Notice of charge' fee applies when not specifed in a lease?

Question

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 "notice of charge" fee is applicable and they won't proceed under they have that information.

There is a section on "Notices" in my lease, but no fee mentioned at all — neither to an amount explicitly, nor any reference (e.g. "a reasonable fee"). One clause does say:

Section 196 of the Law of Property Act 1925 shall otherwise apply to notices given under this lease.

• I've double-checked Section 196 of the Law Property Act 1925 but there isn't a reference to fees there either.
• I've tried searching online, but can't find any definitive source — One post on this forum says that the landlord can charge any amount if it's not specified in the lease.
• (I've also checked for previous questions here, but they seem to be US-focused.)

Is there some fallback amount (either legislation or through guidance) that would apply in cases like this?

Or is this really the case that the landlord can charge an abitrary amount?

Answer 1

Administration charges (ie non-rent payments) are covered by s.158 and Schedule 11 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 which says that such charges must be reasonable and that a tribunal may, on application, vary the lease accordingly.

Meaning of “administration charge”

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 —

• (a) for or in connection with the grant of approvals under his lease, or applications for such approvals,

• (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

...

1(3)  this Part of this Schedule “variable administration charge” means an administration charge payable by a tenant which is neither —

• (a) specified in his lease, nor

• (b) calculated in accordance with a formula specified in his lease.

(2) A variable administration charge is payable only to the extent that the amount of the charge is reasonable.

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—

• (a) any administration charge specified in the lease is unreasonable, or

• (b) any formula specified in the lease in accordance with which any administration charge is calculated is unreasonable.

However, there is no specific definition of what is "reasonable" and each case will be fact dependent - presumably by reference to industry averages or some other similar datasets.