Unpicking the garage situation.

tomstickland

I've just completed on the purchase of a flat.
It wasn't advertised with a garage, but a close look at the lease and land registry plans show that it has a parking space with a garage.

The soliticor has confirmed that the garage belongs to the owner of the flat.

I phoned the EA two days ago to ask about the keys for the garage.
She left a voice mail message which I didn't reply to until today.
She's away today so I spoke to another EA at the same office and he said that "there isn't a garage, the vendors never had one with it."
I explained that I'd looked at the deeds and they clearly showed it.
"you'll have to pursue that via your solictor then" was the response.

I'm waiting to hear from the solicitor.

Meanwhile I have a number of thoughts....
-has an owner done something odd some time in the past, like sell the garage to someone else?
-are the vendors not telling the full story?
-did the vendor never find out about the garage themselves?
-has a mistake been made?

After I've taken advice then I'm considering a number of things.
One is to place a notice on the garage asking if anyone uses it and, if so, to contact me.
Another is to break into my property and change the locks on it.
If it's empty, then all well and good, if it's not then maybe I'll have some clues to lead me to the current user.

I don't really want to cause trouble unecessarily, so I'm going to ask around first. Seeing how 7 out of 9 of the flats are rented then the chances of me upsetting another long term resident are quite low.

If someone else thinks that they own it, then subject to legal confirmation, then I'm willing to look at a solution that doesn't involve legal fees. I'm not wanting to be greedy here and the gargage has a use to me.

Good drama for a Thursday afternoon anyway.

Rikki

Do you know which of the nine garages is possibly yours? Is it obvious which garage belongs to which flat?
Has it been let out by a previous owner? Sold seperaely and never noted on the deeds?
Interesting to find out if its being used, by whom and for what?

Questions,Questions,Questions...............

I am as intriged by this as you.



Edit: You may find you have bought a flat and got a free garage.

xela_17

I'm intrigued as well. Let us know what happens.

tomstickland

Only 3 flats have garages according to the plan I have.

I've spoken to my solicitor and she's been very helpful.

Interesting to find out if its being used, by whom and for what?

This is the most important point. So I've made a notice asking the user of the garage to contact me. I'll see if I get any response.

lynzpower

Ive been thinking about this tom.

Surley your solicitor should have picked up on this as she was going through the boundary plans?

A mystery in any case....

Wickedkitten

Does it say anything about a garage on the actual deeds?

tomstickland

Well, I've just been around there and put a notice on the garage door and the door to the flats asking the user of the garage to contact me.

I spoke to the neighbour who lives in the adjoining house. He was very helpful. As we were talking then the woman who lives in another flat turned up and she uses the middle garage. She said that someone used to use my garage a few months back, for storage. She'd not seen that chap for a few months though. She said that the whole think was a mess anyway.

I might go to the land registry and do a search for all of the flats in the block and see who is registered as owning what.

Rikki

The plot thickens.:huh:

BobProperty

It hasn't got a white Renault 7.5 t curtainside truck in it, plus some large bags belonging to Securitas, has it? :rotfl:

tomstickland

Well, I might be finding out soon. I'll wait a few weeks before breaking in.

silvercar

Get a note drawn up to stick on the garage door, stating you are now the legal owner of the garage anyone having claim to its contents or usage should context you by XX failing which you will take possession and remove items.

You have the deeds to show its yours, I would now leave anyone else make a claim if they see fit.