Losing our home

Hbeard

Hello, I don't know whether anyone can offer us some advice or any ideas but I feel I should at least try to gather as much information as I can. My situation is a bit of a complicated one but il do my best to keep it concise.

Last year my aunt decided she wanted to sell her home to pay off her mortgage and buy somewhere else. Her mortgage was for 50% of her property. I saw the opportunity and decided that I would purchase. The other half of her property is owned by L&Q who Im sure most of you are familiar with.

Our first step was to contact L&Q and ask them what we needed to do in order to purchase the property. After months of misinformation a letter was sent to my aunt informing her of the following;

'Due to how we acquired this property we do not have any interest in how you wish to sell your property. You are free to do with the property as you wish'

That is not the exact wording but its pretty close to it.

Following this we contacted solicitors and mortgage advisor's to get the process started, all the while attempting to stay in contact with L&Q. The property was in very poor condition and we have spent approx £16,000 restoring it, after informing L&Q we moved into the property as we were under the impression that the owner could do what she wished with the property, as stated in the letter she had received. Some months ago the head of their sales department contacted me to enquire whether we were buying 50% or the entire property, I responded then to confirm we only wanted 50%. She never contacted me back. I also emailed her some time later to confirm what I had told her and to ask for some kind of confirmation, again, I got no response.

Everything was on track for us to successfully begin our mortgage until yesterday, when L&Q informed us that they would not lease their 50% of the property, they would only sell it outright. This has essentially blocked us from buying the property as our mortgage has been agreed for the 50% share and we cannot afford to go to 100%. They made no mention of this in the entire year we have been in contact with them.

TL;DR

L&Q are taking our home away from us after withholding critical information about the sale of the property.

We are now facing losing our home and having to find somewhere else to rent. This seems entirely inhumane to me. To remain so reticent to supply information until the 11th hour and make 3 people homeless as a result of that decision.

Any information or advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

DTDfanBoy

It's generally not a good idea to move into a property and spend thousands renovating it until you have actually completed the purchase.

Hbeard

Yes that did occur to us. The situation we were placed in however meant that we had little choice but to move in to the property due to our housing situation at the time. This coupled with the communication from L&Q informing the seller that she could do what she wanted with the property led us to believe that L&Q were not going to be a problem.

GDB2222

If they really wrote to your aunt or her representatives 'Due to how we acquired this property we do not have any interest in how you wish to sell your property. You are free to do with the property as you wish', they may be estopped (legal term) from saying differently now. You need a solicitor to argue this out with them.

I assume that, at the moment, you are living there with your aunt? Can that continue whilst you argue out the legal side of things?

Finally, did they say why they are not prepared to have you as the tenant of the 50% they own? Could your aunt nominally stay on their books and you sublet from her?

Hbeard

My aunt has moved in to the home she is preparing to buy with the proceeds of this sale, that home is owned by another family member (its a very large house) so she isnt currently living here. Her mortgage for this property expires in December and plans are in place for her to pay that mortgage off in full, making her the owner of that 50%.

L&Q have informed her that she is not allowed to sub let and that she has to sell the home as a whole, however, they have only informed her of this yesterday, rather then a year ago when we started to make these plans and enquiries. They have not stated why they are not prepare to lease their 50%, only that they will not.

Is it worth my time to take all the correspondence we have with L&Q to a solicitor?

GDB2222

Hbeard wrote: »

My aunt has moved in to the home she is preparing to buy with the proceeds of this sale, that home is owned by another family member (its a very large house) so she isnt currently living here. Her mortgage for this property expires in December and plans are in place for her to pay that mortgage off in full, making her the owner of that 50%.

L&Q have informed her that she is not allowed to sub let and that she has to sell the home as a whole, however, they have only informed her of this yesterday, rather then a year ago when we started to make these plans and enquiries. They have not stated why they are not prepare to lease their 50%, only that they will not.

Is it worth my time to take all the correspondence we have with L&Q to a solicitor?

Yes, undoubtedly worthwhile to see a solicitor.

Talc1234

From what you have written;

L&Q said that your aunt could dispose of her share of the property as she saw fit. They also said that they didn't wish to continue owning 50% of the property and renting it to a future purchaser (you). Maybe they would rather spend their resources for social housing elsewhere. By your own admission you said that you saw this house as an opportunity.

You have never owned this property so spending £16K refurbishing it was unwise. I don't see how you could take legal action against them as you have never been a party to any agreement with them. Basically they have rejected your offer to buy 50%. As long as this is before exchange of contract, then your losses are your own.

theartfullodger

You need a good solicitor who is expert in these HA shared ownership/rent deals (i.e. probably not any old high street solicitor..)... URGENTLY!!

Suggest you also 'phone Shelter, the housing charity, helpline on 0808 800 4444 and ask their advice...

You are in all sorts of trouble & I am not sure you appreciate the seriousness of your situation. (e.g arguably you are trespassers also..)

What did the solicitor who handled the "purchase" state on the matter??

dancingfairy

You've also done 16ks worth of 'work' to the property. What sort of work your aunt was allowed to do and whether the same would apply to you I don't know but in theory presumably the housing association or however could argue you didn't apply for permission to do such works and have caused damage/vandalised their house (even if you have actually improved it).
This is actually a very complicated situation. Are you a tenant, a sub tenant, or other? You need to get some proper legal advice on this one.
df

Hbeard

Talc1234 wrote: »

From what you have written;

L&Q said that your aunt could dispose of her share of the property as she saw fit. They also said that they didn't wish to continue owning 50% of the property and renting it to a future purchaser (you). Maybe they would rather spend their resources for social housing elsewhere. By your own admission you said that you saw this house as an opportunity.

You have never owned this property so spending £16K refurbishing it was unwise. I don't see how you could take legal action against them as you have never been a party to any agreement with them. Basically they have rejected your offer to buy 50%. As long as this is before exchange of contract, then your losses are your own.

The 16k would have been spent anyway, the house was in a dire condition and desperately needed renovating. The house will be sold regardless of whether I buy it or not and in the sale of the house the money we spent will be recouped so as it turns out that is less of an issue.

After talking to the solicitor who was overseeing our part of the mortgage process he has said that L&Q are in the wrong as they haven't actually stated anywhere that my Aunt had to sell 100% of the property. The information that L&Q were not prepared to lease their half was given AFTER we had secured a mortgage agreement for 50% - which they had been repeatedly informed of many months before they then made this announcement.

As it happens, we have raised the money needed to purchase 100%, however, our solicitor wants to correspond with L&Q as to how and why this matter was allowed to carry on in this way from there end.

As for trespassing, this is something I was quite worried about. However, being that I have done all the renovation work in the property and am continuing to do so I am curious to know if she can legally allow me to stay here as both a family member and as the site manager/renovator? I am unsure on the law regarding this obviously.

Thank you for all the feedback.

Windsorcastle

The OP's post is confusing in several ways. First of all, there is no point whatsoever telling us the 'gist' of what L&Q said, rather than what they actually said. That may well be your interpretation of it, but it's not what they said, is it?

Why would L&Q continue to subsidise half of a property with social housing money, for someone who doesn't fit their criteria? Presumably your aunt fulfilled their criteria in some way (as a key worker for example), but their rules have always been very clear that if you cease to fulfil the criteria, then you must repay the equity loan in full. Your aunt is not entitled to pass on the benefit of subsidised housing to whoever she likes. It will also have been crystal clear to your aunt from the original purchase that she is not allowed to sublet because THAT IS NOT WHAT SOCIAL HOUSING IS FOR. She needs to sell the whole property and repay L&Q their equity share or stay put. That's the 2 choices. Why on earth you chose to spend 16k on renovation on a property you don't own, is a mystery to me. What's more, L&Q also require homeowners to obtain their written permission before embarking on significant works, so the fact that your aunt has not done this could also land her in trouble with them.

To say that L&Q are taking your home away from you is overdramatic and inaccurate. It is not YOUR home, it is still your aunt's home, and they aren't taking her home away, they are just refusing to give you what you want!

I don't think you are telling the whole story here. Is it the fact that you were already subletting the property from your aunt before you started this whole 'purchase' process? (That would explain why you were spending money on doing it up and why you are so indignant at losing 'your' home). Because if you were subletting, she is in breach of her contract with L&Q and they could demand immediate repayment of their equity share in that case, and then your aunt is screwed. So be careful getting your solicitor to start ruffling feathers unless you are sure you are squeaky clean in this scenario.