Legal advice on Flat with stubborn freeholder

gman20_2

Found a flat going very cheap, it's a repo.
Problem is the freeholder wants to buy it.
She owns the upstairs and the freehold and now wants the downstairs.
She isn't giving any information away as to how long the lease is, etc.
So she has put in the asking price. She has said she wont pay a penny more than the asking price, so I can outbid her and I can buy the flat.

However legally what right does she have to withhold such information?
What kind of problems could she cause me in the future?
When extending the leashold, what rights would I have to make sure I can extend it?

Basically, can I just ignore her for the most part?

Storm

I'm not sure about the legal stuff - but do you really want to live below someone that would probably hate you on principle? She could make your life hell!

gman20_2

I'm so easy going that's doubtful.
Plus I don't know if she currently lives above. She might be a buy to letter just trying to get the full house..

ILW

If you think she is giving you problems now, just think how much worse it would get if she had freehold control over a flat you have bought.
Walk away.

gman20_2

I haven't even viewed the property yet, so far she's only given the EA problems.
I booked a viewing and they phoned back to tell me of the situation.
All I need to find out is how long the lease has left and she can stick it to be honest.
So now I need a way to find out how long is on the lease without actually asking her, maybe I need to find the EA that originally sold the house before it got repo'd.
They'd have the answer, surely.
Is the lease length printed on the deeds?

Also might be worth seeing hold old she is, she might not be my problem for too long.

gman20_2

Lol, a google of "Freeholder nightmare" unearths some fun reading.
h++p://houseweb.com/forum/showthread.php?p=849 (change h++p to http

Hmm, maybe you guys are right :P

pinkshoes

Personally I would run a mile, as this sounds like much more trouble than it's potentially worth.

bitsandpieces

And you'd be below her. Unless the insulation is top notch, it's very easy to make enough noise to annoy those underneath you (and can be quite hard to keep noise down).

ILW

An awkward freeholder can give you more hassle than it is worth. They could also make it virtually impossible for you to sell the place in the future. I would not risk it.

00ec25

gman20 wrote: »

When extending the leashold, what rights would I have to make sure I can extend it?

assuming you are a "qualifying leaseholder" and only after you have owned it for 2 years, you have the right to apply to extend it.... whether you can afford the cost of the extension is another matter as the price will be a market value, there is no such thing as a discount.

Qualifying leaseholder = if your lease was more than 21 years, when originally granted and your property is not Crown, national trust property or a building within a cathedral precinct Shared ownership leases only qualify if your share, as leaseholder, is 100%.

gman20_2

ILW wrote: »

They could also make it virtually impossible for you to sell the place in the future.

Can you go into a bit more detail? I have no doubt this is true, I'm just interested in the methods they would use.
Currently the woman is just not responding to any requests for details, and I'm guessing that would therefore make it impossible for me to get a mortgage on it.
Also, are there not laws against this kind of thing?