Joint freeholder -want to turn the front into a drive - advice please

marie43read

Hello any advice would be greatly appreciated please.
I have lived in my ground floor flat for 24 years - upstairs neighbour was already living here when I moved in.
We bought the freehold between us approx 7 years ago - I am holding all the freehold paperwork
I recently was left an inheritance which I have been using for home improvements ( new bathroom / new kitchen etc). next job was to get the front garden turned into off street parking (front garden is mine). Had requested forms from Local Authority for planning permission for dropped kerb, which I needed the other freeholders signed permission for. Had mentioned this to my neighbour - yes he was more than happy for me to do this.
Anyway long story cut short he passed away suddenly - i didn't know him well - he kept himself to his self - but am aware ( from his friend) he left no will so the probate procedure could be lengthy ( only family a sister they he did not see) .
I am very sorry that my lovely neighbour has passed - but does this mean I can not get my front turned into drive till the property has been sold- which could take ages - and then new owner/ shared freeholder might not give me permission
I had a builder ready to come and price up estimate for the cost of the work - which I have been delaying but really I just need to know one way or another
Thank you

G_M

which I needed the other freeholders signed permission for. Had mentioned this to my neighbour - yes he was more than happy for me to do this.

Obvious question: was this in writing?

What does your lease say about development /changes? You may need freeholder consent since you are converting a garden into a drive - it's not just about the council planning permissin.

marie43read

Well we are the freeholders!
But as my neighbour owned 50% of the freehold and his consent had only been verbal ( was waiting for information from builders till I filled in form which required his signiture ) am I able to still proceed?

DTDfanBoy

What does your lease say regarding the land in question and your ability to develop it, if you need the freeholders consent you'd be brave to continue, the works clearly improve the value of your property yet reduce the value of your neighbours, the new owner may not take kindly to you decreasing the value of their asset.

marie43read

I will look at lease - thanks for pointer.
Being honest not sure how having a drive would decrease the value of my neighbours flat - you haven't seen the front garden as it is now!

DandelionPatrol

I would ask 'How is the freehold actually held?'

Is it Tenants in Common, Joint Tenants or through a holding company? Or some other way?

The answer to these questions will dictate where the thinking on this should go. At the moment it goes 4 ways and it looks unlikely, but if we can narrow it down, the focus might help with seeing a way through.

G_M

marie43read wrote: »

Well we are the freeholders!

Errrr... exactly. "We".

You are not the freeholder. You are 50% of the freeholder, perhaps via a holding compny or whatever.

In your capacity as a leaseholder, wishing to convert the garden, you need the consent of the freeholder. Now, as a 50% shareholder in the freehold, you can vote to approve the granting of consent. But the other 50% shareholder of the freehold also has to approve.

Since you now say their approval was merely verbal, and was in any case only in relation to the LA Planning Application (not the change to the lease) I'd say you have no choice but to obtain the writen consent of the Executers of the will, or the ultimate Beneficiary following the Grant of Probate.

DandelionPatrol

G_M wrote: »

I'd say you have no choice but to obtain the writen consent of the Executers of the will, or the ultimate Beneficiary following the Grant of Probate.

Don't preempt the answer from OP. If it is a holding company, there are avenues to explore.

marie43read

We never formed a company when we bought the freehold - we just bought it and I have all the paperwork. ( For no particular reason -it just happened that way)

G_M

marie43read wrote: »

We never formed a company when we bought the freehold - we just bought it and I have all the paperwork. ( For no particular reason -it just happened that way)

Is it Tenants in Common, Joint Tenants or...

as per dandelion's Q above.