Which part of lease still applies

sh_kilnao

Hi all,
I hope someone will be able to comment on this confusing matter as I haven't found anyone yet who is familiar with the topic.
My house came with both a freehold and a leasehold assigned to it. At the time it was explained to me that the leasehold only applies partially, and that the reason is the existence of the common areas shared between other houses in the neighbourhood and also with a block of flats. That seems reasonable as there is a service charge that needs to be collected, however there are various other items in the lease document that I am now trying to figure out which ones actually apply. There are for instance stipulations requiring that the garage is used only for storing a car (!), and that the lawns need to be mowed (for all premises, not only common land). As I can't find any evidence that some of these are not applicable, I wonder what is common practice when a freehold supercedes leasehold - which parts of lease would you expect to still apply?
Thanks, Nik

dc197

From your description using words like house and neighbourhood, I'm having trouble working out what your property and environs aree. Is it a house, is it detached, what is between the other houses.....

Please elaborate and give more detail, then people will be better able to advise.

AdrianC

When you bought it, your solicitor should have shown you the maps of the property - both freehold and lease - and asked you to confirm they were what you expected they were.

At a bet, the freehold applies to your actual property - probably including any garden immediately around it, solely for your own use. The lease will apply to the garage if it's in a separate block.

The freehold won't "supercede" the lease - because that would mean you would be leasing from yourself. They will be for different parts of what you bought.

eddddy

I wonder if it was originally a leasehold house within a group of leasehold houses, and the leases stipulated that every leaseholder had to pay a service charge for maintaining communal areas around the houses.

And somebody bought the freehold for their house, so the service charge (and perhaps other terms in the lease) have had to be carried forward, to ensure that those communal areas are still maintained.

HappyMJ

sh_kilnao wrote: »

Hi all,
I hope someone will be able to comment on this confusing matter as I haven't found anyone yet who is familiar with the topic.
My house came with both a freehold and a leasehold assigned to it. At the time it was explained to me that the leasehold only applies partially, and that the reason is the existence of the common areas shared between other houses in the neighbourhood and also with a block of flats. That seems reasonable as there is a service charge that needs to be collected, however there are various other items in the lease document that I am now trying to figure out which ones actually apply. There are for instance stipulations requiring that the garage is used only for storing a car (!), and that the lawns need to be mowed (for all premises, not only common land). As I can't find any evidence that some of these are not applicable, I wonder what is common practice when a freehold supercedes leasehold - which parts of lease would you expect to still apply?
Thanks, Nik

All of it...

Whether someone would go to the effort of actually enforcing any part of it though is another matter.

I also have a leasehold garage and yes it also says for the storage of a vehicle only but really who's going to care if you've thrown a few extra boxes in there a work table and so on...

Hoploz

If the garage is attached to the house I'd imagine it to mean you cannot convert it to accommodation.

If the garage is in a block, I'd think it is trying to avoid activity which might affect other users of the communal area, eg using it for car repairs (eg running a business on the side where someone is there all the time with detritus hanging about the place) or storing goods which could be flammable and therefore a risk to other users.

The gardens, I assume at the front, are a small personal patch with a large communal area. These are to be kept looking nice, eg don't chuck rubbish out, don't leave old washing machines out there etc, to keep a pleasant environment for everyone. Again, to stop anything which would adversely affect other people. These communal parts need to be maintained and leaseholders pay collectively towards it.

sh_kilnao

Many thanks for all the replies. I'll try to give more details for those pointing out that I wasn't clear enough.

The property I own is a an end of terrace house, the plot consists of the house itself and a small front driveway and a back garden. The house and the rest of development (three terraces and a block of flats) share a relatively large communal area - a paved footpath and gardens (trees, decorative plants), all at the center of development, at the back of houses. Houses have garages, but they are a part of the house, ie. on the same plot. All is managed by a RMC, via agents.

Yes, the freehold applies to my property only, and the lease should apply to the entire development. Originally all houses were leaseholds, but most have bought freehold since then. All houses still have to pay the service charges, and that is completely fine - the lease is clear about that.

The reason I am bringing this up, is that we were going to inform the residents that front lawns/driveways should be in a reasonable state (there are a few heavy transgressors, who are more likely to follow what the agents instruct, while ignoring pleas from neighbours). However the confusion is regarding those clauses in the lease referring to maintaining the appearance of houses - do those apply to freehold ones too? From your replies it seems to me that this is still the case. We can't enforce all of those (and especially not those about garages!), but at least refer to the lease to remind of responsibilities.

Cheers, Nik

Hoploz

That being the case I'd say the lease could be enforced upon the communal areas to make sure they are maintained, but the houses who own the freehold would no longer be subject to the terms of the previous lease on their own piece of land, ie you can't force them to keep things tidy any longer.

It might be hard for you to find out which houses have bought the freehold, but the managing agents would of course know and as such only write to those still subject to the lease.

Are the communal areas being maintained properly? Are you sure all houses still pay the service charge? Is there a separate lease for the common land, which all houses are still responsible for?

sh_kilnao

Hi Hoploz, thanks for the comment. The communal areas are well maintained, and all the houses are paying for that. There was even attempt by one freehold house to challenge the service charges, which eventually ended up in the court, with the ruling being that all freehold properties need to pay too as they are bound by the lease. I don't know all the details but I think other lease stipulations were not on the table. Agents would probably know which houses are freehold, but they normally avoid to get in the situation of interpreting our lease, so I don't think they can help with this. There's no separate lease for communal areas, as far as I know.

G_M

There are (I think) two possibilities. To determine which aplies, you need to get out your lease and its Plan (map), and get out your freehold and its Plan. These will show you what section of land applies to each.

For £12 you can download all 4 from the Land Registry here.

1) Your house is leasehold. You own 2 Titles:
a) the leasehold Title to your House. Check the lease & Plan to see what is included eg garden, garage, common ground etc
b) a share of the freehold Title ( with your neighbours probobly also owning shares). The extent of the freehold (again, check) may include ALL the houses (with each house also having a lease which is owned by each occupant)

2) OR
a) your house is freehold, with NO lease. You own it outright in your sole name. Again, check the freehold Plan to see what is included (garden? etc)
b) your own a lease on other land eg the garage, the common land etc. The freehold to this area may be owned jointly by all the house occupants, or may be owned by a company, or whoever.

In either case, the terms of whatever lease you own all apply to you (whatever it covers - house, garden, garage whatever).

sh_kilnao

Interesting. I think case 2) applies in my case - house is freehold, and besides the house, included is the driveway in the front and small fenced garden at the back. I also have the original lease (now 45 years old) and it refers to the entire development, including a map where my house and the said driveway and garden are highlighted. The freehold title document is rather short, and it references the leasehold title. So, if I understand correctly, in G_M's interpretation all of the lease stipulations still apply.