Buying leasehold flat - but lease has been breached

Jebrelli

Hi all,

Any advice would be really appreciated! Here’s the problem:

At the end of September I put in an offer for a leasehold flat (one of two in a converted Victorian house), the freehold of which is owned by a private company.

The offer was accepted and things progressed well until I received the lease and floorplan for the property. The floorplan showed two partition walls in the lounge next to the front door that did not exist when I viewed the flat, and I queried if the vendor had removed these and if so had permission been sought.

The vendor said the walls had not existed when he purchased the flat some years ago but apparently he hadn’t enquired about this with the previous owner.

To cover myself against any future problems (such as when selling the flat on) I asked the seller to obtain retrospective permission from the freeholder.

I didn’t hear anything for a couple of weeks, and in the meantime the estate agent suggested taking out indemnity insurance against the freeholder. The tenancy on my current flat runs out in about two weeks and I was (originally!) aiming to complete before Christmas, so I said I would be happy with the insurance solution so long as it was paid for by the vendor.

Just before Christmas my solicitor got in contact to say that the freeholder wouldn’t provide retrospective permission and that they were now threatening to take action against the seller for the breach of lease. The freeholders also refused to process any other requests until the situation was resolved.

Unfortunately, because the freeholder is now aware of the wall removal we can’t obtain indemnity insurance, and now we’re in a situation where we’re waiting on a private company that has very little interest in the property.

It’s been almost two weeks and we’re still waiting to hear what the freeholder wants the seller to do to resolve the problem. Also a new tenant has just signed a lease for my flat, so I can’t ask for a temporary extension. I’ve looked at the short-term rental options in my area and it looks like it could cost £500-700 per week.

Are there any ways to resolve the wall removal problem (eg. getting a building surveyor round to the flat) that I can suggest to the seller? Does anyone have an idea how long this could take to be resolved? Should I look at signing a new 6-month lease in another flat?

Also feeling slightly guilty that this situation is down to me asking for the retrospective permission!

Thanks for any help,
Jebrelli

CloudCuckooLand

Don't feel guilty. The current owner and their own legal advisors were at fault for not checking the facts orginally.

If you bought it, as is, when you came to sell you might then be stuck with the same issue the vendor is now facing.

Sign up to 6 months, and find another flat...

Don't give notice in future until you have exchanged...

Jebrelli

Thanks, yes I'm starting to think that finding another rental place would be better to do sooner rather than later. I'm not ready to give up on this flat yet though.

Unfortunately the tenancy was due to run out this month anyway as it was the end of a 1-year contract, but if I'd taken the landlord up on his offer I could have had a 2-3 month extension.

worbikeman

Personally I would be looking around elsewhere if only to widen your options. But as you say, dont give up on this yet till you see how it pans out.