Events fees is the name given by the Law Commission for those transfer, exit or contingency fees which are charged by some Landlords in the lease and are not always clear before a potential buyers commits to the purchase.

The Law Commission is recommending that when a property is sold off plan the interested buyers are supplied with a disclosure document and these must include:

1. The address and price of the property
2. An explanation of the Event fee
3. A statement that an Event fee is payable
4. When the Event fee is triggered
5. How the Event fee is calculated
6. Who the Event fee is payable to
7. Whether any of the fee goes into a sinking fund and if so how much
8. Illustrative examples showing how much the Event fee may be on sale of the property

The document must include a statement that the prospective buyer should ask the Freeholder about other charges, such as service charges, ground rents and sub-letting fees, which may apply in addition to Event fees.

If there is more than one option for the payment of Event fees, the prospective buyer must be provided with a disclosure document for each option.

When a property is sold by the leaseholder through an estate agent the freeholder must:

• Provide the specified information about Event fees to the Elderly Accommodation Counsel to be included on their database of retirement properties;  or
• Provide their contact details to the Elderly Accommodation Counsel to be listed on their database of retirement properties; and
• Provide an estate agent with a disclosure document for the property within two working days of being contacted by the estate agent

The specified information should be set out in a disclosure document as above.