Buying a repossession

LondonEngineer

So I have found myself in a bit of a situation whilst trying to buy a repossession property in London.

What I was told by the estate agent: Share of freehold with 71 years on the lease, the share was with three flats part of the same converted property. 2no# 1bed and 1no# 2bed.

I made an offer under the impression it was a share of freehold, and that I would be able to extend my lease with minimal cost I have spoken to the other freeholders who also wanted to extend, so legal costs only. The other freeholders live in the other two flats. I was given 28days to exchange on the agreed sale price due to it being a company selling a repossession.

Got my application underway, solicitor is looking at the papers as I type this, mortgage fees paid and agreed, surveys paid for. As a structural engineer I went around to do a structural survey myself, and the agent dropped the fact that it was just a leasehold sale!! I almost killed him right there in the flat!!

Now I would normally just walk, claim my fees from the agent as they messed up, and never deal with the agent again. However I love the flat, I want to push the sale through but only if I get hold of the freehold but how do I do this?

My feeling of the situation is this, a lady owns the freehold share and lease, gets into money trouble, flat gets repossessed, she agrees to the management company aka the repossession firm can sell the lease to cover her bill, she keeps freehold share and makes a pretty penny when I want to extend/try and sell etc. So I am not sure if the seller (management company) actually have rights to the freehold.

I think my only way is to change my offer to a lower number and then get hold of the freehold post buy. Can I force her to sell it to me? I am waiting for the solicitor to get back to me but they are part of the same firm of as the agents and I now don't trust them in the slightest.

Low ball the price? Let it go? Burn the agents office to the ground? Any knowledge of similar situations and advice would be much appreciated, thanks

G_M

If the bank who repossessed also repossessed the freehold, you can buy it off them.

If they did not, then the original owner still owns it, and may, or may not, be willing to sell it to you separately.

Once you are a leaseholder, and have owned the lease for 2 years, there is a mechanism I believe to get 1st option if the freehold is ever sold. More here:

http://www.lease-advice.org/

cattie

Your post is a little confusing as all flats are leasehold sales even if they are being sold as having a share of the company owning the freehold.

Who actually owns the freehold? This is what you have to identify. Is it the other lease owners in the building or is it a completely different company or individual who owns the freehold?

You cannot force a sale of freehold in this instance. First of all there is a period of 2yrs ownership before you have the legal right to extend the lease or apply to purchase the freehold. But when there are multiple owners in a single building, I believe at least two thirds must agree to be party to buying the freehold, I don't think it is possible for it to be sold to just one individual leaseholder if there are more than 2 properties in the building. I stand to be corrected on this though if I'm wrong.

See here for full info regarding leasehold property & extending leases & purchasing freehold interest. https://www.lease-advice.org

Even if you walk away from the purchase now, you cannot claim any costs from the ea. Ea's can only go by info given to them by the vendor & it is your solicitor's job to check that everything is as it should be. This is part of what you pay them for.

LondonEngineer

Thanks for the replies.

Cattie, the other two flats hold a share of the freehold and live in their apartments. I was unsure if that made a difference, i.e. could they force the third party to sell me the freehold once she has sold the lease (or repossessed)?

The agent put in an offer I made on the share of freehold on a leasehold property, they advertised but made a mistake, surely that is case for reclaiming costs due to their mistake/negligence/pulling a fast one!?!??

G_M, I was thinking as your response and believe there is not much I can do, if I buy the place, in two years the lease extension/freehold would be £30/40k, not something I would be able to afford:( Looks like I may have to GTFO!

Anyone else got experience in this type of repossession issue?