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Absent & Bankrupt Freeholder
Spursman100
Posts: 13 Forumite
Hello everyone,
I am looking for some help with my situation.
Myself & my brother own a maisonette, my brother lives there with his girlfriend and baby and i have moved somewhere else.
We own the ground floor of the maisonette and a lady lives alone upstairs.
The lady upstairs has put her flat up for sale. The lease has only 69 years left which will put a lot of people off and some may not be able to get mortgages, her asking price doesn't reflect this.
Seeing as the freeholder hasn't been around for the last 16 years since the lady upstairs purchased her flat he obviously isnt around. When we bought the place around 12 years ago we took out an indemnity in case they came back. We also found out that freeholder was absent and bankrupt and no chance of finding out where or who they are.
We have been meaning to either extend the lease or buy the freehold but the lady upstairs didnt seem to be bothered by it.
Seeing as she is moving out ideally we would like to purchase the freehold so we have full control over the leases. I understand this has to be a joint decision but if one party isnt interested then the other can buy it and then charge the lease holder a fee to extend their lease.
Is this correct? i wanted to get some info before i get a solicitor to look into all this for me.
Thanks
I am looking for some help with my situation.
Myself & my brother own a maisonette, my brother lives there with his girlfriend and baby and i have moved somewhere else.
We own the ground floor of the maisonette and a lady lives alone upstairs.
The lady upstairs has put her flat up for sale. The lease has only 69 years left which will put a lot of people off and some may not be able to get mortgages, her asking price doesn't reflect this.
Seeing as the freeholder hasn't been around for the last 16 years since the lady upstairs purchased her flat he obviously isnt around. When we bought the place around 12 years ago we took out an indemnity in case they came back. We also found out that freeholder was absent and bankrupt and no chance of finding out where or who they are.
We have been meaning to either extend the lease or buy the freehold but the lady upstairs didnt seem to be bothered by it.
Seeing as she is moving out ideally we would like to purchase the freehold so we have full control over the leases. I understand this has to be a joint decision but if one party isnt interested then the other can buy it and then charge the lease holder a fee to extend their lease.
Is this correct? i wanted to get some info before i get a solicitor to look into all this for me.
Thanks
0
Comments
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It's complex. If the freeholder is bankrupt then was this property passed on to the official receiver to include in the 'pot'.0
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It's complex. If the freeholder is bankrupt then was this property passed on to the official receiver to include in the 'pot'.
I dont know, when we bought the place the solicitor wanted us to look into buying freehold but we didnt want to pay anymore after the house purchase.
All i remember him saying was it would be cheap to buy the freehold0 -
Well it's time to find out. Have you got the bankruptcy records?0
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I dont think so, i need to take another look at all the paperwork0
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Spursman100 wrote: »I dont think so, i need to take another look at all the paperwork
It wont be in your buyers pack, it's a court document., you need to seek it out as it will reveal who the receiver is, then you ask them if they are aware of the property, and if so, who owns it now.0 -
Here's a useful link - if you're not buying your neighbours lease, then it could end up being more headache tan it's worth tbh http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/buy-freehold-right-to-manage0
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Thanks for the info, either way i need to sort something out. My house wont be worth anything with a very low lease.0
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Do you have the name and / or address of the freeholder ?
https://www.gov.uk/search-bankruptcy-insolvency-register should give the contact details for the receiver.0 -
i will get all the paperwork on friday. I have a call setup with Leasehold Advisory Service. Will know more next week0
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