Leasehold help please!!

ratters75

Me and my wife are currently in the process of selling our leasehold flat,
the exchange has almost gone through BUT the buyers lender is requiring a fire regulations certificate, i have no idea about this as when we bought the property of the council right-to-buy this was never mentioned then, so why are they asking for it, i got in touch with councils legal department and they said they currently have not got the certificates in place as assessments have not been carried out. Can someone please aid me with this as its extremely frustrating as this sale has been going on for over 12 weeks now.

cattie

Never heard of this & have owned 3 leasehold properties in the past. Is it a new thing or is it a flat in a high rise or similar?

Perhaps these people could advise http://www.lease-advice.org/

ratters75

Thanks for the reply!

We are in a two storey block containing 4 flats us being at the top, the council are the freeholders, we had no problems when we purchased this from them. I'm not so sure a fire regulations is required as i've never heard of it but i maybe wrong.

tbs624

Ratters75 - it will probably be because of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which came into effect in October 2006, replacing over 70 pieces of fire safety law. The FSO covers all non-domestic premises in England and Wales, plus the common parts of blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupation (further info also under the Housing Act 2004)

The Council should have their fire risk assessments available for inspection. You or your solicitor may want to talk direct to the local Fire Safety Officer and /or take the issue up with your local Councillor if it appears that the Council has been slow to act.

ratters75

tbs624 - thanks for the reply.

I've been on the phone all day to the council and have been informed that
my local council are currently setting up a widespread survey of inspecting all there properties, and have been assured by a member of there legal team that we have been shortlisted for an assessment next week due to the fact that its holding up our move. I wont hold my breath but they were incredibly helpful which was a first for them.

sarah_elton

When I sold my leasehold flat, my solicitor paid £120 to my freeholder for a "Seller's Pack" which included documents such as the buildings insurance certificate, accounts of the managing company, etc.

It had a piece of paper in showing the results of the most recent fire safety inspection (appeared to have been conducted by someone from the managing company and a member of the fire service). It didn't really look like a certificate, but may be the sort of thing your buyer's lender is after?

My buyer was paying cash so no lender headaches.