Selling leasehold flat nightmare

Tinylynz

Hi,
Can anyone please help! My parents inherited a flat from my Auntie and they are having an absolute nightmare trying to sell it. The flat is owned by my parents but is set in a small block of residential flats. There is a leasing management company called 'Circle Management' and they have had nothing but trouble with them. They have lost 2 sales due to this company. Any information that the buyers solicitors request from Circle Management takes far too long or doesn't get responded to and the 2 sales have pulled out as things are taking too long. My parents have requested sub letting for 6 months but this company have said they are not allowed. My parents are paying rates etc on a property that has been unoccupied for 2 years. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
Lynz

saajan_12

Where is the property? You mention rates so is this Northern Ireland?

Tinylynz

No this is in Lancashire.

Regards Lynz

scriv

Tinylynz,

I suggest an internet search first of all as I think this company has been mentioned on https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com and https://www.propertytribes.com for similar activities this year?

I would also suggest that you get a copy of the lease as well to be absolutely sure of what is actually in your lease.

If this is the same company, I think I would be seeking legal advice.

anselld

Sell it at auction.

Tinylynz

Thank you for your advice. Yes it is the same company as I did Google them. It seems Mr Paine (in the !!!) and his wife are a little dodgy. Just not sure where we stand legally.

Regards
Lynz

principlecounts

Take em to the cleaners.

AdrianC

Tinylynz wrote: »

Any information that the buyers solicitors request from Circle Management takes far too long or doesn't get responded to and the 2 sales have pulled out as things are taking too long.

How long are they taking? Are they giving any reason?
Can your parents's solicitor request a sale pack from them in advance, so that there's most of the likely information immediately available?

My parents have requested sub letting for 6 months but this company have said they are not allowed.

What does the lease say?

My parents are paying rates etc on a property that has been unoccupied for 2 years.

ITYM council tax - and, yes, they will be. It has to be paid by somebody.

Hoploz

It certainly sounds to me a good idea to flog this at auction. If they are having trouble providing details for selling then it sounds the best way forward even though it will affect the sale price. If its inherited and there are therefore no outstanding mortgage etc then any sale is better than no sale.

Do they have a copy of the actual lease to check whether subletting is permitted? If they don't then the land registry hold copies of leases which can be downloaded for a few pounds.

Tinylynz

Thank you all for your replies. Circle management just keep saying that they do not have the information that the buyers solicitors need. They have sent letters out to all the flats about 10 months ago stating the landlord intends to sell the freehold, so it went to auction but nobody bought it. They are now saying that they intend to change some things but we don't yet know what those changes will be. Martin Paine actually put the phone down on our conveyencer when she kept ringing for the information she needed. We are under the impression that we are not of any importance to them, so they just work at a snails pace. This has resulted in 2 sales pulling out due to the time it is taking. We know that council tax still has to be paid, however if we hadn't lost the sales we would have sold the property a year ago.

AdrianC

Tinylynz wrote: »

Circle management just keep saying that they do not have the information that the buyers solicitors need.

Well, they certainly can't send what they don't have.

The question is whether it's information they should be realistically expected to have...