Share of Freehold - Flat Sale - Help...??

Lee_NE

We are selling our flat which we bought the share of freehold with the owner of the flat on the ground floor in 2006.

As part of the sale we are selling the flat and our share of the freehold.

The owner of the ground floor flat who is also the other freeholder appears not to want to have his id veryified by the land registry and seems to be trying to stall our sale. he no longer lives in the flat by the way and has it as a rental investment.

We would like to know if he can stop us from selling the flat to whoever we want to, and us giving the new buyers 50% share of freehold??

The sale has been going through smoothly and this is the last peice of the puzzle that needs signing off, and I don't know if there is anything we can do in law to help us...??

Our solicitor appears to have given up and has given us little help.

G_M

Clearly the owner downstairs has not told his mortgage lender, or the HMRC, that he is renting out the property. He is avoiding paying tax, and avoiding a BTL mortgage.

How about property insurance? Is it a single policy for the building which you share? Do the insurers know about the rental? Your OWN insurnace cover could be invalid!

As for your issue, it is hard to force him to sign. Check who his mortgage lender is (£4 from the Land Registry) and threaten to call them. And the taxman. He'll be unhappy, but not want his illegal rental to be exposed like that.

Try Lease Advice too. A quick search there found this which is related though not exactly what you want! :

I am selling my property and the Management Company and Freehold owner want to charge me a fee for providing information. Is there a limit on the fee they can charge?

There is no specific limit on the fee that can be charged. However, any administration charge demanded by the landlord must be reasonable and must be accompanied by a prescribed summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges. If the summary is not included, the charge is not regarded as being payable.

Lee_NE

Thanks for that. I have sent an email to Lease Advice and waiting to hear their ideas.

I do think the property is no longer mortgaged as he's now retired, and I'm sure he isn't declaring the income to HMRC, and you are right about the insurance. We are a bit worried about that, we have a seperate buidlings and contents policy for our first floor flat and we know he has buildings cover for his part.

However I understand the whole building should have one policy.

To be honest we were very naive when we bought the share of freehold and now I understand we should have had two new leases drawn up and a limited company formed and a few other things.

Thanks again.

G_M

Can you clarify why his ID needs verifying? I assume it is part of the process to gain his consent to the sale. But sale of what:
1) the lease or
2) the share of freehold
3) both

Is his consent actually required? Can you post the relevant clause in the lease that requires his consent?

(I ask because frequently consent by landlord is often only needed in the last 7 years of a lease)

Of course, your solicitor should really have looked into this but you seem to have little faith in him.......

Lee_NE

I understand new land registry rules require him to go to a solicitor and have his id verified for the sale of the freehold.

He did post a copy of his id to our solicitor in October but apparently this isn't good enough... That is what we have been told by our solicitors.

The original solicitor in the firm was excellent and on the ball, but they left and since we have had two others. The latest seems to have hit a stumbling block and appears not to want to address the issue with a senior partner.

I think we will have to go over their heads and see what can be done.

Richard_Webster

OP can transfer the leasehold title to his flat without anyone else's consent normally but if he wants to transfer a share of the freehold he needs the signature of the other co-freeholder (COF) so COF and OP transfer freehold to COF and Buyer. The freehold is a single entity belonging to two people - you can't transfer your half share without the other's agreement.

So COF's ID has to be verified by the Land Registry and as OP's solicitor is not acting for him that is the problem.

COF can in the short term be as difficult as he wants to be - this is is one of the downsides of literal shared freeholds that most solicitors don't explain to their clients - see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2995606 which refers to other threads where the point is illustrated.

To dispense with his signature would involve expensive court action with no guarantee of success.