Permission to let - Leasehold Property

SeanG79

Some background - My wife "owns" a Leasehold property, from before we met. We are looking to move into my property, as it is more convenient all round.

Having read the Leasehold agreement, there is a provision in the agreement that states "within thirty days after every Assignment Assent Transfer Charge or Underlease to give thereof notice in writing with particulars thereof to the lessor (and in the case of a Charge with the Account/Roll Number of the Mortgagee) and to pay the Lessor's Solicitors' Registration Fee of Ten Pounds plus Value Added Tax in respect of each such Notice."

This clause leads me to believe that the agreement already provides permission to underlease/sub-let. However the mortgage company will not provide permission to let, unless she gets a letter from the Freeholder confirming permission to sub-let - they will not consider the actual Leasehold agreement.

Here comes the catch - The Freeholder will not communicate with us (they did initially, querying where I got the £10 + VAT fee from but nothing since then), they ignore emails and letters and so we cannot get permission to let the property. This has dragged on for 3 months now and has meant that we are paying a mortgage on a property that is vacant but we cant let. Paying council tax, water, gas, electric etc. The managing agents is a company owned by the same directors of the limited company that owns the Freehold.

I am guessing we need to involve a solicitor to get this resolved, is there any other route we can take to force the Freeholder to respond? (I have read that the Freeholder cannot reasonably withhold permission and a decision should be within a reasonable time, weeks not months).

eddddy

I suspect that any legal route to getting the freeholder to respond is likely to be time consuming and expensive.

I'd try asking your lender if they would accept a letter from a solicitor on their panel confirming that they have checked your lease, and that freeholder consent is not required.

SeanG79

Thanks eddddy, I will try that. So frustrating, as the Freehold only includes 2 properties and the other property is sub-let, so should be so straight forward.

eddddy

TBH, you're saying to the freeholder "The lease says I don;t need permission to sub-let. Please confirm that the lease says that in a letter." I'm not sure that's a reasonable/sensible request - the lease speaks for itself.


In fact, it's probably unwise for the freeholder to try to paraphrase/condense one legal document (the lease) into another document (a letter for your bank).

They risk creating two slightly different versions of the truth.

So try the solicitor's letter approach. If the bank still pushes back, I'd be tempted to start a formal complaint with the bank.

Pixie5740

Why can't your wife just sell the leasehold?

SeanG79

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Why can't your wife just sell the leasehold?

We can sell the Leasehold. However the Leasehold looks to be a good investment property, the rental income will be just over double the mortgage payment (after the rate increase for buy-to-let). It will continue to appreciate in value due to its proximity to Central London and so our first choice will be to let the property at least for the short term.

We have a Leasehold agreement that allows for the sub-letting of the property and so really it should be quite straight forward. (aside from the standard risks associated with letting of a property).

Pixie5740

It's not that good an investment opportunity if you can't get consent-to-let. does your wife have to get consent-to-let from her current mortgage lender. Would a different lender offering a BTL mortgage accept the lease (if indeed the lease does permit subletting) without further documentation from the freeholder?

SeanG79

Pixie5740 wrote: »

It's not that good an investment opportunity if you can't get consent-to-let. does your wife have to get consent-to-let from her current mortgage lender. Would a different lender offering a BTL mortgage accept the lease (if indeed the lease does permit subletting) without further documentation from the freeholder?

The Lease specifically states

"within thirty days after every Assignment Assent Transfer Charge or Underlease to give thereof notice in writing with particulars thereof to the lessor (and in the case of a Charge with the Account/Roll Number of the Mortgagee) and to pay the Lessor's Solicitors' Registration Fee of Ten Pounds plus Value Added Tax in respect of each such Notice."

The mortgage provider has agreed to let subject to a letter from the freeholder confirming permission to sub-let and the will not read the Leasehold Agreement. I am guessing the best course of action will be to get one of their solicitors to read the agreement and provide their opinion on the letter and then the complaint if they still refuse permission as recommended above.