Can I sell part of my garden (leasehold flat)

tizzle6560

Hopefully you can help shed some light on this situation for me -

The owner of the house that backs onto my garden has recently approached me asking to purchase some of the garden area. The 2 gardens are massively disproportionate (mine is 85ft compared to their 12ft) so I can understand why. The area in question currently has a large, brick build shed in place, split into two sections, one of which I would be more than happy to lose and 'sell off'.

My question is, being a leasehold flat in a converted property, I'm assuming it is not my land to sell?

If that is the case, can/should I approach my freeholder and say something along the lines of - the garden is too big to maintain and the larger section of the brick shed is in a state of disrepair. The owners behind are willing to purchase that land so can we come to some sort of agreement that benefits all.

Advice here would be greatly appreciated, or any other suggestions you can think of. My neighbour was approached by the people behind him last year for a considerable amount of money.

Thanks in advance!

stator

You might be able to sub-let part of your garden but that would depend on whether there is anything in your lease to stop you doing it. If it would involve demolishing or damaging anything then obviously it's not possible without the freeholders permission.

If they want to properly purchase the freehold to the land then yes you'd have to approach the person who owns your freehold, and I imagine they would want most of the money. But since you would be giving up part of your lease then you should be entitled to some of it too, but that would all be up to negotiation.

Jhoney_2

tizzle6560 wrote: »

Hopefully you can help shed some light on this situation for me -

The owner of the house that backs onto my garden has recently approached me asking to purchase some of the garden area. The 2 gardens are massively disproportionate (mine is 85ft compared to their 12ft) so I can understand why. The area in question currently has a large, brick build shed in place, split into two sections, one of which I would be more than happy to lose and 'sell off'.

My question is, being a leasehold flat in a converted property, I'm assuming it is not my land to sell?

If that is the case, can/should I approach my freeholder and say something along the lines of - the garden is too big to maintain and the larger section of the brick shed is in a state of disrepair. The owners behind are willing to purchase that land so can we come to some sort of agreement that benefits all.

Advice here would be greatly appreciated, or any other suggestions you can think of. My neighbour was approached by the people behind him last year for a considerable amount of money.

Thanks in advance!

You are correct, it is not your land to sell, so unless the freeholder decides to sell (and they may for a share of the proceeds), this idea is going nowhere.

No idea of the legal implications so perhaps run it by your solicitor/conveyancer for professional advice before you get too involved.

missbiggles1

Would there be any chance of you and the rest of the leaseholders in your building buying the freehold? Quite apart from the land question, it could be a good move generally.

tizzle6560

Thank you for responding and for your advice.

Hypothetically, could my neighbour bypass me entirely and reach out directly to the freeholder to see if a deal can be struck? I guess since that would affect the value of my property, that would not be so easily done.

I will look at the lease about potentially sub-letting part of the garden.

I understand what you say about demolishing anything but the roof and joists have collapsed rendering it next to useless anyway.. Surely allowing my neighbour to tear it down and utilise the land its sat on is a win win for everyone?

tizzle6560

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Would there be any chance of you and the rest of the leaseholders in your building buying the freehold? Quite apart from the land question, it could be a good move generally.

Yes myself and another leaseholder have discussed this option. the 3rd holder lives out the country and has been a bit of a nightmare generally i.e not paying service charge for 4 years, all now up to date thankfully.

We have discussed joining forces if he did not respond in the given timeframe to purchase it, however I think this would be a very expensive investment..

tizzle6560

Jhoney wrote: »

You are correct, it is not your land to sell, so unless the freeholder decides to sell (and they may for a share of the proceeds), this idea is going nowhere.

Thanks for your response. I'd be happy to share the proceeds w/ the freeholder so long as it was a fair and just split, considering I am effectively losing some of the value of my property by decreasing the size of the garden.

stator

There's also another potential issue if you have a mortgage. You would need the bank's permission to sell off any part of the land because it might make your property worth less.

tizzle6560

stator wrote: »

There's also another potential issue if you have a mortgage. You would need the bank's permission to sell off any part of the land because it might make your property worth less.

Yes I had considered this too. My thinking is that whilst an additional 10ft added to the garden behind would add significant value to their property, losing it from my 85ft garden wouldn't do the same in the other direction.

That end of the garden is pretty much redundant anyway with just a dilapidated brick building there.

Will speak to my solicitor tomorrow and keep you all posted. thansk again

G_M

You have a lease for X years for the flat and garden (50 years? 90? 999? whatever).

The freeholder could sell the freehold of your flat/garden, and possibly (I'm not sure but it's irrelevant) split the freehold and sall the freehold to the garden only.

However the garden would still be subject to your leasehold, so would still be 'yours' for the next 50, 90, 999 years.

You could possibly sell a sub-lease to the garden, or part of the garden. You would still own the Head Lease for 50 etc years, and your neighbour would own the sublease for, say 49 years.

However you need to read your lease. It is likely to
a) specifically prohibit creating a sub lease. Or it may not.
b) specifically prohibit splitting the lease ie selling part only

If you have a mortgage, the lender's permission would also be needed as you'd be reducing the value of the property/land you retained, which may make it insufficient security for the loan.

tizzle6560

the lease is 118 years at present

Is there a possibility to purchase the freehold of the garden only then, therefore technically mine to do/sell to whom I please? [/B]

So far from what I have read/comprehended, there is nothing in the lease that stipulates not being able to sub-let a proportion of the garden.