what am i doing wrong in relation to the solicitor and this purchase ??

Tumtitums

I live in a flat in a house which has been converted into two flats . Both are leasehold flats. The other flat is going to be sold with 50% of the freehold and i will be buying the other 50% . I have agreeed a price with the freeholder. I assume i need to have a solicitor involved so i emailed 2-3 asking for quotes . The response i got from one is

[FONT=&quot]You cannot buy the Freehold of your property alone, the Freehold will have to be bought between you and the Buyers of the other Flat (if you intend to purchase an interest in the Freehold).

Does anyone know what they mean as i dont understand. Am i doing something wrong ???
[/FONT]

AnotherJoe

It sounds to me as if you either worded your letter badly or they read it badly, in either case thinking you were saying you were buying the freehold for your flat only.

Mokka

Maybe he is suggesting you should share the solicitor with the other leaseholder? Not sure why though.

davidmcn

Mokka wrote: »

Maybe he is suggesting you should share the solicitor with the other leaseholder? Not sure why though.

There probably are economies if it's all done at the same time, rather than split into two separate transactions. Doesn't need to be the same solicitor but I doubt the purchasers are going to have conflicting interests.

AdrianC

They're explaining to you the way the freehold/leasehold setup works, assuming you don't know. Since we've not seen the wording of your letter to them, we don't know if you've given them good grounds to think that - but your question suggests you may have.

So...

The house and plot is freehold.
The house contains two flats. Each of them is leasehold.

You buy one leasehold flat.

Separately, you buy a 50% share of the freehold for the entire house and plot.
The other 50% is owned by the person who also owns the other flat.

Just to add a little more complexity...
If there were more joint owners of the freehold, the freehold would have to be owned by a company, in which you would all own shares. I only mention it because you might come across it when you google for more info, but it's not applicable here because there's only a small number of you. (I think the breakpoint is above four)

Tumtitums

Mokka wrote: »

Maybe he is suggesting you should share the solicitor with the other leaseholder? Not sure why though.

This is what i think but in my case this isnt possible as i have no idea who the owner of the second flat is

Tumtitums

I did get quotes from 2 other solicitors and none of them mentioned an issue. I will however try to phone up to see if i can get an idea of what their concern is

dancingfairy

There is 1 freehold and you and the other person can each buy a share of it( 50% each).
It's not like you buy the freehold for your property only, you are buying a share of the whole thing.
So between you you will own the freehold for the whole place.
You are not buying the freehold for your place, you are buying a share of the freehold.
Think about it, say there was a problem with the roof or something, you're not going to fix just your bit and them their bit, you'd get it repaired in full and split the costs between you, it's not like you'd be arguing which part is on your 'side' and which tile is on 'their side'.
The confusion may have come in your wording to them, they should have known what you meant but are being accurate and picky ( which lets face it is why you pay a legal professional) and pointing out you want a share of the freehold. I'm sure if you call them and explain you want to buy a share of the freehold they will help.
On top of that you will be buying the leasehold for your place alone.
Df

Tumtitums

dancingfairy wrote: »

There is 1 freehold and you and the other person can each buy a share of it( 50% each).
It's not like you buy the freehold for your property only, you are buying a share of the whole thing.
So between you you will own the freehold for the whole place.
You are not buying the freehold for your place, you are buying a share of the freehold.
Think about it, say there was a problem with the roof or something, you're not going to fix just your bit and them their bit, you'd get it repaired in full and split the costs between you, it's not like you'd be arguing which part is on your 'side' and which tile is on 'their side'.
The confusion may have come in your wording to them, they should have known what you meant but are being accurate and picky ( which lets face it is why you pay a legal professional) and pointing out you want a share of the freehold. I'm sure if you call them and explain you want to buy a share of the freehold they will help.
On top of that you will be buying the leasehold for your place alone.
Df

yes im aware of this but basically is there any problem with me using a solicitor which is different from the solicitor used by the owner of the other flat to do this.
I was told to ring up to make an appointment to speak to a solicitor which sounds like it could be time consuming if this is all they are going to say

dancingfairy

Sorry I misread it that you had misunderstood how it worked. Hope you get it all sorted.
Df

eddddy

As you probably realise, the 'usual' situation would be that you and your neighbour get together and select a solicitor.

But as you say, in this case you don't know the other flat's buyer or the solicitor they will be using.

I guess you could ask the freeholder to pass you details of the buyer's solicitor, so you can decide whether you want to use them.

Obviously, the freehold sale/purchase will be linked to the other flat's leasehold sale/purchase. So you will have to wait around until the buyer is ready (searches, mortgage applications etc.)

And if that buyer drops out, the next buyer will probably have a different solicitor.