Freeholder administration charges for permission to let?

Sounds to me as though they have managed to pull the wool over other people's eyes and got away with it.
I'm only a layman but I'd be inclined to proceed and pay the 4 guineas only, ignoring the demands of the management company. Why would it have solicitor's costs in any event?
The person's view I would value the most is Ian Narbeth.

if the lease states 'to charge surveyor’s fees of no more than 4 Guineas' than that is what you are obliged to pay!

"to let the flat out".

I would want to be clear that the relevant lease clauses are referring to you as the leaseholder subletting to an other occupant rathe than the transfer of the laese to a third party; our leases, written by a major firm of solicitors, are so torturous in their language that they actually contradict their own covenants.

Also, taking account of the "4 guineas" reference, it indicates that the original grant of lease is very old, ae their clauses that actually permit,, or deny, the right to sublet (hence their intial confusion?).

I thought paying £30 admin fee was a lot when I had to get consent of the freeholder. Sounds to me that they are ripping you off. Why would a solicitor need to be involved to grant permission if your lease states you can rent it out once the fee is paid..what are you getting for the £500? Plus, why would you need a survey?

I had something similar years ago just when renting became popular. Anyway the freeholder said they wanted £80 for permission very time a new tenancy was created. I gave it to my solicitor who asked them to point out where in the lease this was mentioned and I never heard another word. Then a few years later - I think someone new started in the job I had a similar request. I dug out the letter from my solicitor and sent it to them. Next I received a letter saying they were taking my name off the data base for this and I would never hear from them on this topic again.

I honestly think this is a ploy to get more money because most people don't read pages and pages of what is in a lease and assume it must be there or else the freeholder would not be asking.

What? when is the lease dated from? search on here, there are several threads on this topic.

There are also many tribunal rulings about reasonableness of admin charges.

I repeat what Ramzi said, why do you need a surveyor? it's a just a letter giving consent to let with a number of caveats in it if applicable such as that the tenant must abide by the headlease

Reply to the comment left by acctsol at 10/01/2023 - 10:35
"but they received a response from their solicitor saying they have done this multiple times with other properties on my street all on the same agreed basis."

I've had something like this before and when I asked other Leaseholders, they had all been dishonestly told, 'everyone else already agreed', as if that set a precedent - which it doesn't.

'Everyone else agreed' holds no water, it's what your Lease states.

I would be inclined to reply that once they have engaged a suitably qualified surveyor to do their thing and you have received a copy of the surveyor's invoice, you are more than happy to make your contribution of four guineas (£4.20!) towards the surveyor only as required by your Lease.

They aren't going to waste north of £250 of their own money on a survey, let alone involve a solicitor on their own dime.

I'm going to guess that your Lease states something like... 'permission to sublet, which will not be unreasonably witheld...'

If you want to be really difficult and have all of what they have said in writing, take it to the LVT and once it is clarified, make X copies of the judgement and send it to all the other Leaseholders.

See if you can find anyone who has done this as they claim, you could take a joint action to the tribunal. Yes you should if you cannot resolve it with a simple letter.

Do you have the first one in writing (saying you don't need one)? If so I would ignore the second.

Did they include the statutory notice for admin charges?

The difference between the maximum amount specified in the lease (1 guinea being £1.05) and what they are asking is clearly an attempt to extract rent from you.
What is the basis of the survey? Surely they have floor plans? More relevant would be if the requested standard compliance certification - EPC, gas, electric and any HMO licence and, possibly, a copy of the tenancy agreement.

If they continue to insist on such outrageous charges, you would probably have a strong case should you take it to the FTT

I believe that the charges have to be reasonable and can be challenged at the First Tier Tribunal:
https://www.lease-advice.org/faq/i-want-to-sublet-my-property-can-my-landlord-charge-a-fee-for-granting-permission/#:~:text=If%20your%20lease%20requires%20you,charge%20a%20reasonable%20administration%20charge.