Wallace LLP finalist at Enfranchisement Awards

Wallace was one of the finalists for the London Enfranchisement Solicitors of the Year award at the inaugural Enfranchisement Awards 2009, organised by News on the Block magazine, the leading magazine in the flat sector offering advice to leaseholders, landlords and their respective advisors.

The firm was recognised for its “high level of expertise, depth of applied knowledge, excellence in client communications, and innovation in enfranchisement.”

Leasehold enfranchisement is essentially the process by which owners of flats can collectively acquire the freehold of their building from their landlord or extend their individual leases. Also under enfranchisement legislation a leaseholder is able to acquire the freehold of a house from the landlord. Decreasing property values are creating a widespread realisation for tenants that acquiring a freehold or a long lease is a smart financial move leading to significant increases in value in their property interests.

Leasehold enfranchisement is arguably the most important boom area in real estate and poses far reaching implications for most landlords, freeholders and leaseholders. Wallace’s team acts for large individual and institutional landlords in responding to tenants’ applications. The team also represents hundreds of tenants in exercising their rights.

Very few law firms can claim specialised expertise in enfranchisement and Wallace is one of the handful of firms who dominate the area. Following very early identification of opportunities that exist under the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act, Wallace became one of the first law firms to form a real estate department centred primarily on leasehold enfranchisement. The firm’s substantial commercial property and property litigation departments overlap to form an all-encompassing leasehold enfranchisement team.

Due to huge success at an early stage and an increasing demand for advice on leasehold enfranchisement, Wallace has seen its team grow to include three partners, three associates and a number of assistants dedicated to leasehold enfranchisement. In 2008 Wallace consolidated its practice by naming Samantha Bone co-head of leasehold enfranchisement alongside Simon Serota, the head of the firm’s property litigation team. The formal launch of the leasehold enfranchisement team as a separate department (working within the firm’s real estate and real estate litigation departments) reflects Wallace’s enterprise and initiative that has been the key to its success in this highly specialised area. This unique set up allows the firm’s enfranchisement experts to concentrate their energy on the extraordinarily large volume of enfranchisement cases that the team is constantly called on to deal with.

Simon commented, “We expect to see an explosion in enfranchisement claims in the next 12 months, as property prices hit rock bottom and tenants become aware of opportunities to enfranchise or extend one’s lease. An area which has been shrouded in mystery for years is likely to become something which people will increasingly seek to understand and exploit, and the experts who have been immersed in enfranchisement for years will be called upon to assist. Wallace is in an ideal position to advise landlords and tenants on these matters, with its large team and years of experience.”

Wallace is currently involved in a case which is likely to be the largest collective enfranchisement claim ever: the team is a member of the legal panel acting on behalf of US private equity group Westbrook Partners in its high profile claim to acquire the freehold of Dolphin Square from Friends Provident.

The team initially made a name for itself when it acted for the lessees of Garden Court in St Johns Wood. The team now handles hundreds of enfranchisement cases each year, including high profile cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal. The team’s involvement in the interpretation of leasehold enfranchisement legislation has made a significant impact on the industry, has set many precedents which are regularly referred to in subsequent cases and has contributed to the legal framework within which the industry now operates.

Wallace’s enfranchisement team has nurtured relationships with clients over many years and boasts an impressive client list and a pre-eminent reputation amongst London property companies and surveyors, including undertaking all of the enfranchisement work for one of London’s largest private landlords.