Rights of Access to Basement Area

cassann

Hi,

Would anyone be able to advise what my rights are regarding the below:

Three years ago I bought a 1st floor flat in a three storey period conversion with share of the freehold. I think the conversion was done in the 80's at which time the access to the small basement area under the ground floor flat was sealed off from the inside of the house so that access is only from the outside of the property.

When I moved in I was given a key to the basement area (about 15m x 1m in size, no windows and not very habitable) along with the other keys. I have always assumed that this was a communal area owned by the freehold as we all three flats have keys, use it for storage and all of our seperate gas and electricity meters, fuse boxes and electricity mains switches are located there.

I am now trying to sell my property and I am being told by the solicitors that I have "no express right of entry to access the basement area" and that they are waiting to hear back from the mortgage company as they have raised it as an issue. I am not sure quite what this means for me given the above and whether this is going to cause a problem with my sale, even though I have never claimed to own the basement outright and it wasn't included as part of the sale details.

If it is, I am a bit concerned that my solicitor didn't pick it up when I bought the property. Do I have any implied rights to access the basement given that important things like mains switches are located there?

Would really appreciate if someone could advise on this as I am stressing out that this could be really serious! Thanks all!

Fire_Fox

Welcome to MSE!

Why are you not asking these questions of your conveyancing solicitor? There is a difference between accessing the area to read your meters and using the area as storage. Have you tried to sell the flat with access to a storage area listed in the estate agents particulars? I have known blocks of flats where the leaseholders had to get the freeholder or his agent to read the meters (locked in a cupboard) on their behalf, safety concerns were cited.

cassann

Unfortunately my solicitor is not too helpful with guidance and advice, even sees it as an annoyance having to answer how things are progressing...

Ours is a converted victorian terrace rather than a block of flats - I guess my question is less to do with storage and more to do with the fact that the basement is where the electricity mains switch and fuseboxes are? Just wondering if in the event that the electricity blows or there is a dangerous situation when the mains electricity needs to be switched off I could be left with no access to these important things... isn't there be some kind of legal right to access to cover such events?

cassann

Oh and sorry, to answer your question, no there is no reference to the basement in the particulars - I have never claimed ownership of the basement although i did mention as an aside to the buyer that I have a key and have been using it for storage as neither of the other owners seems to know or care who owns or uses it. I did make it clear that everyone uses it rather than that it belonged to me and they never asked to go down there to see it so i find it strange that the buyer's solicitors seem to be so fixated on it...?

DVardysShadow

You need to be canny about this. You have a logical right of entry to access your meters. But it is logical and not legal. You have been taking liberties with the storage - and you should avoid making any claim to a right to use the area in that way.

Richard_Webster

When you bought did you know about the arrangement for access to this basement area? Did your solicitor know about it? Did you tell him?

Unfortunately this is the sort of thing that is quite typical of a converted house lease. When builder does conversion he forgets to tell his solicitor who draws up the leases about the basement and the need for access to the meters there. Therefore nothing put in lease.

Fire_Fox

cassann wrote: »

Unfortunately my solicitor is not too helpful with guidance and advice, even sees it as an annoyance having to answer how things are progressing...

You pay his wages, you dictate what queries he answers. This issue is preventing your sale, it is completely unacceptable that you have to resort to (apart from Richard Webster) unqualified people on a forum.

cassann

No, I had no idea about the basement when I bought - but I did disclose on the property information form for the sale that the meters are in the basement. Presumably the person who sold me the flat would have done the same? I am not sure whether it is part of the work that a conveyancer would normally do to check reasonable access to things like this and as a first time buyer I had no idea that this sort of thing might not be checked? Seems fairly important!

Yes firefox, you are absolutely right, but to say that my solicitor is turning out to be a bit high strung is an understatement!!!

roger196

Suggest your solicitor considers whether you have a right of access under para 9 of the Gas Regulations 1998 ( SI 2451 of 1998)

Emergency controls
9. - (1) No person shall for the first time enable gas to be supplied for use in any premises unless there is provided an appropriately sited emergency control to which there is adequate access.



Para 13 may also be relevant
Meter housings
13. - (4) No person shall install a meter within a meter compound which is capable of being secured unless the consumer has been provided with a suitably labelled key for that compound.

Fire_Fox

cassann wrote: »

No, I had no idea about the basement when I bought - but I did disclose on the property information form for the sale that the meters are in the basement. Presumably the person who sold me the flat would have done the same? I am not sure whether it is part of the work that a conveyancer would normally do to check reasonable access to things like this and as a first time buyer I had no idea that this sort of thing might not be checked? Seems fairly important!

Yes firefox, you are absolutely right, but to say that my solicitor is turning out to be a bit high strung is an understatement!!!

This is one of the most important transactions of your life! Sales fall through every week due to slow or incompetent solicitors - are you willing to lose your buyer by sticking with a difficult solicitor?

Speak to a senior partner in the law firm; if there isn't one then go down to the office, pay what you owe and take your file to a conveyancer who has been recommended to you by a friend/ relative/ colleague/ neighbour.