Freeholders blocking flat sale unreasonably

MiM

You there Richard?

clutton_2

have you tried look at the leasehold site - i cant quite recall the name... someone will be along to tell you

Yorkie1

i think it's lease.org.uk (certainly lease dot something)

MiM

Many thanks, will look at that.

Richard_Webster

Thanks all - Richard, do you know whether the freeholders could be liable if you could prove their decision to have been made on frivolous grounds?

Probably, but it would cost a fair bit to get a court ruling to that effect, and would not be quick so you would have long since since lost that buyer - so the ruling would only be a warning to the others for the future.

If I was acting for a buyer and found out that the freeholders were being difficult in giving a consent, I would advise my client not to buy the flat because he or she might have other problems with them further down the track. So you would either have to beat them into submission to satisfy a future buyer or humour them and comply with their unreasonable demands in order to get the sale through as quickly as you reasonably could.

DVardysShadow

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Probably, but it would cost a fair bit to get a court ruling to that effect, and would not be quick so you would have long since since lost that buyer - so the ruling would only be a warning to the others for the future.

And would presumably have to be declared to future buyers ... which might damage your cause. But it would probably mean that the ultimate buyer might end up being less than prime.

Ultimately, these idle busybodies probably need to be bluffed into believing that court action could follow and then understand could ultimately result in a less than prime buyer. They must be fools, because their course of action is inevitably going to lead to a less than prime neighbour.

ILW

I believe this is very common in upmarket blocks in the USA. On the positive side, it can keep out certain undesireable types and thereby keep up the values of the flats.

Jenniefour

I used to live in a block of flats like this - fortunately the residents were not control freaks and it worked fine. And I did not have to supply bank statements - a letter from my accountant to state that I was well able to meet my financial commitments was fine. As far as I know, consent cannot be reasonably refused. I would suggest keeping well away from anything threatening at the moment - the aim for your sister is to get her sale.I wonder if the folks there are a bit out of touch - how about your sister/her solicitor now write a cordial letter to the residents stating that plenty of people have work where they don't get a monthly lump sum into the bank - and this has nothing to do with someone's financial soundness. And ask then to put their reservations in writing, as soon as possible, time is of the essence here, so any concerns they have can be addressed without jeopardising the sale.

And, yes, your sister would have a case against them if consent is unreasonably withheld - effectively preventing a property sale is a big deal, and not a course of action to be taken without concrete grounds that the potential buyer is indeed unsuitable.

But for now assuming they don't really understand properly what they are doing is possibly going to get a better result. Also, ask this committee to seek outside advice to help them i.e. a property law solicitor not involved in the sale. Suggest this in the letter. And ask for the document (which is probably non existant) which states on which grounds consent would be granted/withheld - this might give them a clue that they're on shakey ground.

MiM

They have written and asked for an immediate decision either way. They also needed to make it clear that they would sue if the sale was blocked without reasonable grounds.

The reason for this is the buyer is going to pull out in the next few days, so it's too late for cordiality.

Thanks for all replies. I've suggested they contact the leasehold advice agency mentioned above.