Buy Your Freehold - guide discussion

I have a question please which is loosely related to this. I own a flat which is in one building with another above and linked by garages to another two the same. They were leasehold when built but the owner went bankrupt over 30 years ago and the (then)flat owners were able to buy the freehold collectively. We do not have a management company - I was not the owner back then btw.
It now appears that if any of the flats are sold, no-one will be able to get a mortgage as we are not paying into a management fund for say roof repairs. My problem at the moment is that my insurance is due for renewal next month but it seems they should be insured for buildings only collectively and we should pay collectively. None of us want to sell currently but the other problem that needs sorting is us extending the lease which has about 60 years to run even though we all own the freehold, no-one ( a prospective buyer)will get a mortgage as lease is too short. Anyone actually understand what I have said? Does anyone know an insurance company that will insure the buildings for us collectively.I now have a new tenant which is hopw this arose as I looked into selling mine but found this hot potato!

Marymay, your solicitor should have explained to you your rights and responsibilities as a leaseholder both orally and in writing. This is even more poignant considering that from what you say the legal structure does not follow the conventional or perhaps better to say the contemporary way of doing things i.e. whereby a service charge is raised from the leaseholders to compensate the freeholders or a management company on their behalf for repairs maintenance and buildings insurance etc.

It all sounds very "wishy washy" to me. Check the documentation you received from your solicitor to find out as eddy suggested whether you are a shareholder in the freehold company. If so it should be accompanied by the memorandum and articles of association which governs the companies remit, its rules for operation, how its directors are elected etc etc etc. Failing that, see what you can find out from the other leaseholders.

BTW, you are correct, only the freeholders jointly can legally cover the buildings for insurance despite some brokers offering insurance to flat owners for buildings cover.

eddddy wrote: »

That's not 100% correct.

Most leases will say that the freeholder is responsible for insuring the building. But a few leases say that individual leaseholders are responsible for their own buildings insurance for their individual flats.

MaryMay needs to make sure by checking the lease.

If one is the long leaseholder of a flat that states that they are responsible for building insurance then it is highly likely that the majority of solicitors will consider the lease to be defective. If one's prospective purchaser has such a solicitor then you're in for a bit of extra inconvenience and expense when selling.

Whatever the nature of the legal capacity that owns a leasehold flat, e.g. an individual, more than one individual, partnership or company etc. That entity cannot legally insure the buildings as it does not own them. You cannot insure something which you do not own. Especially the shared or common parts of the building. The freeholder can only legally do that.

Just to follow on what I said above, MaryMay can go to the land registry and order a copy of the freehold register title to find out who owns the freehold of her flat. That will also reveal all the other leasehold properties on that freehold title i.e. the other three flats and two garages. Immediately downloadable for £3.

Cobbles wrote: »

Hi,

I have a similar questions about buying the freehold but it's a house rather than a flat. I bought my house about 6 years ago and have just discovered now that it's leasehold and not freehold when I paid for the title from the Land Registry site because I'm wanting to sell. It says it's a leasehold for 999 years which started in 1750 and names two people (who are obviously deceased now). How do I go about buying the freehold? Would I automatically get it as it's so long ago? How much would it cost?

Has anyone been in this situation? I'm ringing my solicitors on Monday but they are closed at the weekend and I'm a little anxious about the situation.

There is no reason to be anxious, you have 732 years left on the lease. Long enough for the new owners and many generations of their heirs to not have to be concerned about renewing the lease. The only downside of owning the leasehold estate of a house - and there may be others, I am no expert - is if you want to alter or extend the property you will need permission from the freeholder. Probably not a problem, however, you will need to pay the freeholders surveyors and solicitors costs in order for them to make the decision. That may put some folk off, again as in MaryMay's situation I would have expected your solicitor to have informed you of this before you purchased. Having said that, there may be a clause in your lease which allows extensions and alterations as long as you comply with all statutory requirements e.g. planning and building control permissions, check your lease.

You will probably find all the info you need on the government-funded leasehold advisory website.

It is unlikely that the two people named on the freehold title are the freeholders when the lease was created. The title would have been passed down to their heirs when they died and probably sold on or passed down through the generations of the family. It could have been that they both died intestate - i.e. without Wills - but there would have to be no surviving relatives who knew about the title. You know what they say, where there is a will, there's a relative

GTG wrote: »

There is no reason to be anxious, you have 732 years left on the lease. Long enough for the new owners and many generations of their heirs to not have to be concerned about renewing the lease. The only downside of owning the leasehold estate of a house - and there may be others, I am no expert - is if you want to alter or extend the property you will need permission from the freeholder. Probably not a problem, however, you will need to pay the freeholders surveyors and solicitors costs in order for them to make the decision. That may put some folk off, again as in MaryMay's situation I would have expected your solicitor to have informed you of this before you purchased. Having said that, there may be a clause in your lease which allows extensions and alterations as long as you comply with all statutory requirements e.g. planning and building control permissions, check your lease.

You will probably find all the info you need on the government-funded leasehold advisory website.

It is unlikely that the two people named on the freehold title are the freeholders when the lease was created. The title would have been passed down to their heirs when they died and probably sold on or passed down through the generations of the family. It could have been that they both died intestate - i.e. without Wills - but there would have to be no surviving relatives who knew about the title. You know what they say, where there is a will, there's a relative

Can the poster not apply for a Vesting order in this circumstance and take control of the freehold in that way?