Uncooperative freehold sharer.

DaveJames

I have recently had to move my brother in with me as he has MS and cannot look after himself any longer. We have a seller for his flat but it has come to light that the shared freehold has only 69 years remaining. The current buyer has a mortgage approved on the basis that the freehold will be extended. Unfortunately after contacting the co-freeholder she has made it absolutely clear that she will not agree to the lease being extended. The freehold is shared on a one up one down house conversion of two flats. I am at a loss as to a reason for this as i understand that extending the freehold is in her best interest as well as my brother. Please, can anyone tell me if there is anything that can be done? Thank you so much in advance.

HappyMJ

DaveJames wrote: »

I have recently had to move my brother in with me as he has MS and cannot look after himself any longer. We have a seller for his flat but it has come to light that the shared freehold has only 69 years remaining. The current buyer has a mortgage approved on the basis that the freehold will be extended. Unfortunately after contacting the co-freeholder she has made it absolutely clear that she will not agree to the lease being extended. The freehold is shared on a one up one down house conversion of two flats. I am at a loss as to a reason for this as i understand that extending the freehold is in her best interest as well as my brother. Please, can anyone tell me if there is anything that can be done? Thank you so much in advance.

A freehold doesn't have a length of time....so is it a leasehold property and you're selling a share of the freehold as well?

jbainbridge

I'm sure someone more helpful will be along soon!

starving_artist

You have a legal right to extend your lease if you have owned the property for two years. Read this guide: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/extend-your-lease?_ga=1.51305836.477212411.1448485154

eddddy

It's worth trying to find out the joint freeholder's reasons for refusing to extend the leases, as it could influence your next steps. For example, is it:

- She doesn't want to pay out legal fees?
- She wants your brother to pay her some money?
- There's been some kind of dispute, and she's doing it out of spite?
- She doesn't understand and doesn't want to get involved?


If your brother has owned the flat for over 2 years, he can apply for a Statutory Lease extension, however:

- That's likely to take 6 months - or longer if the joint freeholder is difficult (and the buyer probably won't wait that long)
- The valuation and legal fees will be much higher
- Your brother would have to pay the joint freeholder a chunk of money


The quicker, simpler, cheaper approach would be for the two joint freeholders to simply agree to extend both leases for free, and split the legal fees.

Tygermoth

Or she could be like the nasty piece of work in my brothers set of flats.

Refuse because she knows you need it and push for you to pay all of the costs then reap the benefits when its renewed. her gem was 'I don't want it, or need it so i aint f3ckin payin a penny- so go f3ckyerself'

The moo also refused to pay in to get some urgent roof works done, as it was leaking into the upper flats and one of the hallways - but as it did not directly effect her she refused to pay.

The matter is still dragging on, months and months later. Its a lovely community of great people, but you always get one.

DaveJames

Thank you so much for your replies. Just to be clear, she has joint ownership of the freehold and it is definitely out of spite, why, i just dont know. We have no problem paying for the extension and i have made that clear from the outset. I believe that she simply dosent understand what is being asked of her and no amount of explanation seems to work. He has owned his flat for over 30 years.

eddddy

DaveJames wrote: »

Thank you so much for your replies. Just to be clear, she has joint ownership of the freehold and it is definitely out of spite, why, i just dont know. We have no problem paying for the extension and i have made that clear from the outset. I believe that she simply dosent understand what is being asked of her and no amount of explanation seems to work. He has owned his flat for over 30 years.

So your only real options seem to be:

- You (or somebody else) persuade her to see sense
- You start the statutory lease extension process (which in these circumstances is an unneccessary waste of money)
- You wait until she wants to sell, and finds she is in the situation you are currently in

Freecall

She may simply have a fear of change of something which she does not understand. After all somebody wanting to 'mess around' with the title of her home could be seen as rather threatening.

I would suggest that you make it clear that her lease will also be extended at your expense (minimal if done at the same time) which will prevent her encountering the problems that you are now facing should she decide to sell at some future date.

I would also offer to pay for her to get independent legal advice from a solicitor of her choice to put her mind at rest and explain the advantages to her (say £200).

Altogether a lot less costly and quicker than the statutory process.

Your goal has to be to gently ease her into seeing the benefits of this for all concerned.

Soundgirlrocks

Are both leases the same length? It may also be that hers has longer left to run and therefore has more value.

If they are the same length and you want to move quickly I would offer to pay the legal fees to increase both leases at the same time (Legal fees are around £700 for a lease extension) If she forces you down the statutory process then the cost will be higher for you but all leaseholders must be treated equally so if she forces you to pay full market rate for your extension the future owners of your flat would have the right to force her to pay the market rate when she extends. As far as I'm aware.

As others have said you need to show her it is in everyones interest to sort this out.

GDB2222

DaveJames wrote: »

Thank you so much for your replies. Just to be clear, she has joint ownership of the freehold and it is definitely out of spite, why, i just dont know. We have no problem paying for the extension and i have made that clear from the outset. I believe that she simply dosent understand what is being asked of her and no amount of explanation seems to work. He has owned his flat for over 30 years.

You could explain that the new buyers are lovely people, who will make fabulous neighbours. However, if she stymies your brother's sale, he'll have to let the flat out instead of selling it, and she may not like the tenants.