Selling portion of the garden (share of freehold)

claytob86

eddddy wrote: »

That's good. However, your mortgage lender will probably want their surveyor/valuer to do a new valuation. You'll have to pay for this.

And if the valuer disagrees with the EAs and decides to reduce the valuation, your mortgage lender may want you to pay off part of your mortgage (in order to keep you within the LTV limits for your mortgage).

I think a chat with our solicitor is in order. Is this something they would orchestrate or would we need to speak to the mortgage company directly? I don't think we spoke to them once during the purchasing process...

eddddy

claytob86 wrote: »

I think a chat with our solicitor is in order. Is this something they would orchestrate or would we need to speak to the mortgage company directly? I don't think we spoke to them once during the purchasing process...

Initially, I'd just call your lender and say "I'm thinking about releasing part of my mortgaged land. What process do I need to follow to get your approval?"

You will definitely need a solicitor eventually, but it might be best to get your lender's agreement in principle before committing to legal fees.

bouicca21

I don't think we would be leaving any money for the freehold company

Why not? It's the freehold company that owns the land, you only own the lease. Why should the freehold company agree to a sale just because you want to profit? and they will have costs in terms of the lease variation. Your co-freeholder may not be as affected as you by the sale but he/she will have to look at whatever the buyer does with the land so there will be some impact.

glasgowdan

If I go to view a property that's had part of the garden sold off I usually walk away. Other buyers may also do the same. Others may not. It's worth thinking over very carefully whether it's really worth it or not. Land is a precious commodity.

G_M

If I were the leaseholder upstairs (or in other words, if I owned half the freehold to the garden), I would certainly not agree to this sale unless

a) I had it confirmed how much the freehold would be impacted in value, and
b) I was to receive some benefit in return for losing land I half-owned (on top of compensation for a) above)

There is also a (remote) possibility that if the upstairs flat has a mortgage, the lender may have lent against the value of both the lease & freeholds, so may object to the sale.

claytob86

glasgowdan wrote: »

If I go to view a property that's had part of the garden sold off I usually walk away. Other buyers may also do the same. Others may not. It's worth thinking over very carefully whether it's really worth it or not. Land is a precious commodity.

Thanks for your reply. Do you mind if I ask why you would walk away?