cgw here! I need advice re buying freehold of my flat

[Deleted User]

Hi cgw here

Her of the 'big bill for leaseholders and same girl who had the builders break through the front window and interior partition wall to take scaffold poles through.

Well, the builders have repaired the damage and replaced the ruined new bedroom carpet.

All this has brought us back into close contact with the freeholder(who also owns three flats in the building).

He is now anxious to resolve the matter of this big bill for repairs(my share being a proposed £11,500).
He refused my first offer but now wants to discuss it to resolve the whole thing.

During these discussions, the freeholder has said he wants to sell his flats and wants to sell a 20% share of the freehold with each.

He is asking me if I want to buy my freehold. Of course I do, as it is the most sensible thing.

How much can I expect to pay?

I am prepared to be a tough negotiator with him because he has previously made some unpleasant threats. Now he is anxious to be nice to me.

Any suggestions?

Doozergirl

You need to get an independent valuation based on the terms of your lease. I googled to find a company to do mine but you could probably speak to LEASE again to get a recommendation.

Why do you think it is the most sensible thing to do? It isn't always! How long is your lease? It's virtually brand new isn't it?

[Deleted User]

123 year lease, but isn't it easier to sell with freehold? Doesn't give you more control over what happens with the building?

Doozergirl

You don't need the freehold with such a long lease and there will be no difference in the price you fetch when you sell as a result. A lease of that length means your share of the freehold is worth very little indeed.

Your freeholder sounds like a complete no-brain. If he sells the other flats off with SOF, he won't get any more money than selling off on a new lease, plus he'll have to organise the company to buy the freehold from him. He can't just sell you 20% - he has to sell it to a company, of which you own a 20% share.

You can take control of the building with the Right to Manage which costs a hell of a lot less - about £100! But this is something you do once he's sold off the flats (you wouldn't have any control until then anyway). Your legal costs alone in taking SOF will be close to £1000 because you have to pay his too.

[Deleted User]

Thanks so much - I am having a meeting with him in the next couple of weeks, when we will discuss and try to resolve the problems over the bill, etc. I have started to set an agenda for the meeting and have given him fair warning that I won't be accepting to pay a share of anything I regard as an imrovement(rather than a repair), that because of his promssiory note (which he attached to our contract when we bought - the bit on managment- saying that he would carry out decoration at no expense to us), I am not accepting a share for any decoration, nor for work in individual flats, nor for work which repairs damage done by his previous tenants and so on. Obviously there will be a fire alarm system, repair to roofing, work on party walls, etc.
Mine is a basemnt flat. The building is on a fairly steep hill. So, down steeps to its own front door, at the front - through corridor and out of back door to garden - at the back, so its a true garden flat.

The flats above mine have balconies. Repair/improvement is hard to assess from the estimate, is a balcony part of the interior or exterior?
Its not a common part, so where does responsibility for repair lie?