Please help:we are desperate with this vendor/freeholder

pigeonpie

I'm going nuts with stress. The vendor of the leasehold flat we are supposed to be buying just won't be straight with us and it's a private sale. He goes away for weeks on end and makes himself contactible by email only. The 'sale' has now dragged on for a few months. He got us to phone the freeholder instead of doing it himself (having told us the freeholder was a nice guy and would rubberstamp our necessary consents) and when we did the freeholder was incredibly hostile. He said he didn't have to say yes, would take as long as he liked (months if he wanted to, if he replied at all) and basically our concerns were of zero importance to him. We have to have consents on things like keeping pets as otherwise we are in breach of the lease. Plus we want to put in a velux. Our lawyer sent him a deed of variation and a licence 6 weeks ago.

The vendor insisted that we be ready to exchange contracts in early november, so we paid extra in legal fees to be ready (then our solicitor messed up the contract and so we were only ready a week later). By the time we were ready, he'd changed his mind. Must be simultaneous exchange and completion. Now because the freeholder's being so awful, he's refusing to ring him up and sort it out, but instead saying we must buy the flat without the consents or he won't sell it to us.

We are ASTs here and the lease has expired and just runs forward on a month to month basis. We don't want to just drop the flat as we are here, we really like the flat, I am unwell and moving too often is very difficult, we have paid a lot already for the flat in terms of not just legal fees and surveyor's fees etc and also in this area of London there is nothing for sale. This flat is a big 2 bed whereas most of them are a lot smaller or a lot fancier in which case unaffordable.

We would be prepared to buy it with the pet consent in place on the understanding that the other consents would follow as think it would be unreasonable for him to refuse the velux permission as the flat is a loft and gets unbearably hot in summer with one small window for a large space. Question is though how do we handle the vendor and freeholder so that we can get an answer this week on the pets consent and that the other is likely to be dealt with in x weeks. (freeholder apparently previously said he'd reply 4 weeks ago but then he didn't. He won't tell us if his own solicitor even has the papers yet). We do want this flat.....really.

I know I've posted before but that was when he was not replying, not when he'd been so hostile and suggested that previously verbally agreed (in principle) consents wouldn't now be granted. We just need a fax stating that he agrees to waive section x of the lease on pets don't we?
Our solicitor is no help at all with any lateral thinking. He just does the paperwork, not interested in helping us as people. In fact we had a legal friend help with the consents (DoV and Licence) drafting as our solicitor made a mess of it.

We have to contact the vendor again tomorrow so please help with any advice you can on how to proceed. He made so much of how simple it was all going to be (of course) and how honourable he is, which is why, together with the huge attraction of buying where you already live & like, we went with a leasehold property.

Sorry to rant but OH and I are ill from the uncertainty and stress.To make it worse, one of our much loved pets is elderly and has been really ill and the vet thinks it may kill him to move.
We are paying top whack for the flat too and are prepared to overlook that there's no sinking fund and the building needs painting too.
Hope this is coherent. Too tired to think clearly so am asking you good people what to do - strategy and psychology.

Sorry about the length of this post.

Robert_Sterling

The flat is for sale as leasehold.
The lease has some conditions.
You want to change some of the conditions.
The freeholder is thwarting you.
The vendor is not helping you.
You can buy the flat but not vary the lease.
So either accept the conditions of the lease or do not buy the flat.

tomstickland

Sounds like a long list of problems to me. Uncooperative freeholder is not good.
I'd look for somewhere else.

Doozergirl

pigeonpie, I do remember this ongoing saga. I'm afraid to say that I too would walk away from this one. You are going to experience all of this again when you eventually come to sell.

If your freehoolder is unco-operative on the basics, he is likely to be unreasonable during the time that you are living there. I'd hate to see what the maintenance bills look like if he hasn't time to to deal with you. I really don't think it's worth the stress

You have to consider that the money already spent was a relatively small investment compared to buying the flat and that money has allowed you to see that this flat is a no-go area.

The fact that your vendor wants to exchange and complete on the same day also sends alarm bells ringing in my head. The only people that 'need' to do this are FTBs with 100% mortgages. Vendors have no reason at all, especially when it evidently isn't a case of simply trying to rush things through for you :rolleyes: It's quite possible that he plans to put the price up at the last minute, especially considering that prices in parts of London have been tangibly rising month on month.

Rachman_2

Wait till the freeholder tells you he wants £400 for consenting to your variation plus his fees paid.

If your freeholder is like this - you could have a 'mare going forward - when you're buying is the only chance you will have to force the pace on getting things done - sounds like your seller does not want to be involved and tried to brush stuff off - like others, I expect there to be games played at completion date when he will know you are committed and keen and he can squeeze extra money out of you - and I suggest he'll do it.

I have to say, this sounds like standard nonsense from freeholders and vendors - I'd be ready to walk away or at least draw a line in the sand and tell him if he does not dance to your tune, you are walking - and be prepared to do it.....

pigeonpie

I think if he asks for even more money (we are paying more than the valuation, plus he is getting rental money way more than his mortgage) at the end, I think we would tell him to shove it, but....there really is nothing else in this area. There may only be in the Spring, but for every property - they are not even hitting the websites before being sold if they are nice - there are over 100 prospective buyers. We lost 3 others trying for Plan B (all sealed bids). We have to find a much bigger mortgage to buy a small house assuming there is one for sale. To buy another flat, we have to buy a much smaller flat with no prospect of outside space and no garden (altho' flat would be cheaper).

It drives me so mad as it's just a few bits of paper and he could produce it so easily. He's said he would.
Yes, we are trying to deal with everything up front as want no more to do with him. His managing agents seem reasonably ok, it's him that isn't.
We are going to ask the vendor to pay him for the consents, which he offered to do in October, but has never done. Only if the vendor suggests that he doesn't want to sell to us if we insist on permission are we going to pull out unilaterally. We don't hold any cards. He would sell this flat to someone else in 5 secs, maybe not for quite as much - who knows? This area is in the Canary Wharf catchment area and there are loads of young rich things who will pay anything for a flat.

It's a big fight. We need to call on the vendor's broken promises as he considers himself a 'gentleman' (acc to him and the rental agent). Some tactics on what to say to him to get him to act - we don't know if we should show our desperation, threaten to pull out (which he knows is difficult due to our personal circumstances) or appeal to his better nature. He's not nasty; just selfish.
We and our solicitor think we should fight as we also know that this flat would sell to someone else in 5 minutes.

Someone said to ignore him and keep cats and just do the alterations as he's not in London and if the neighbours don't mind, stuff him. That sounds risky.

Thanks to all of you for your comments; I'm used to fighting for what I need as it's always that way in my life, but need some tactical help. For various reasons, leaving this area is hugely problematic so we have a lack of geographical mobility. Our alternative is to continue to rent. That means losing our chance to buy and prices are going up 15% a year here due to lack of stuff for sale (we started looking in August and have seen 3 decent properties since then, 2 of them in roads we didn't much like...this is a great road too).

At the least ,please keep fingers crossed for the talk with the vendor. Question1 is to find out how much he really wants to sell and to us.

Excuse my offloading my problems but hopefully you understand that the answer is not as simple as just 'walk away'. The other new owners know what he is like (they didn't need consents though) and by the end of next year it will probably be s.o. freehold. Buying the freehold would be the only thing we'd have to deal with him about and there'd be lots of us.

Thanks everyone. Happy Christmas.

lynzpower

you say you ar in the canary wharf area is that right

where are you looking and what are you spending?

there does seem to be a fair amount around at the mo, but depends on your price range.

I am a bit obsessive about east london property- thats my excuse for nosiness

tomstickland

The freeholder is under no obligaton to sell the freehold though.

Our alternative is to continue to rent. That means losing our chance to buy and prices are going up 15% a year here due to lack of stuff for sale

They're going up for everyone though.

pigeonpie

There are 4 new owners here (10 flats) - all seem very nice and keen to make this building nicer. Friendly too - unheard of in London (it's SE btw, not in the Wharf). There is even a Xmas drinks party for everyone! None of them needed consents and they are just going ahead and doing small works without his permission. They think we are suffering for being honest (but don't want to keep pets in breach of lease in case of being held to ransom on some dispute with a nasty neighbour - the flat that shares walls with our's is not sold yet - nor to put in a window without permission).

The vendor was nice on the phone and said he would try to speak to the freeholder again, but we know if there is no reply by the first week or two of January, we are going to be under pressure to agree to buy as is or go. The others being nice is another good reason to try to make this work as a share of freehold with these people would be good.

He does have to sell the freehold if enough people (qualifying owners) want to buy it. Looks like it may take time though. There's a complicated formula for working out what he could ask for it. As the garden is 'his' it will be more expensive than if the lease defined the garden as communal. But the new owners are already fed up with him and his managing agents.

scary fact: my OH picked up that the lease was silent on the garden being communal. All 5 solicitors so far have missed it. Moral of the story: check what isn't in your lease, not just what is.

You are not allowed to run a normal commercial company like this as a co director, so I wondered if there are any pressure groups for leasehold reform out there as think our situation may interest them? If anyone knows, pls post a link? Thanks.

Imo freeholders should have obligations to reply to all correspondence within a reasonable period (which should be defined) and if they don't, there should be some remedy not involving the hugely expensive high court - arbitration maybe. Freeholder gets fined for negligent management, dereliction of duty to his tenants (we pay after all for everything and provide his income). Plus the owner-occupiers should be able to do what you can in other EU countries which is replace inefficient managing agents and vote on common area works.

Fingers and paws crossed and happy Christmas.

tomstickland

https://www.lease-advice.org has loads of info

pigeonpie

I've rung them, thanks. They are very helpful. It's not really legal advice we need but (moral support and...) suggestions on how to break the deadlock with this difficult man.