Options for dealing with a tenancy in common dispute

DJBenson

My grandfather (who passed away just last week) transferred ownership of the family home to my brother and I in 2005 - he continued to live there until 2014 when he moved out to live with somebody else.

I left the family home about 10 years ago to live with my now wife.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but my brother is an alcoholic, drug abusing low-life who has turned our once spotless family home into a hovel. The state of repair of the house is very poor now, broken windows, damp, dirty and generally not fit to live in (so he's literally right at home there).

I want to sell the property before it's worthless, but, depending upon how intoxicated he is on a given day, agrees or does not - so it's hard to land on a firm "sell" or "not sell" decision with him.

I've spoken to a solicitor about options and they are currently (at god knows what cost) checking whether there is any restriction on the property stopping me from forcing a sale - but I know that can/will be expensive and the court (if it gets that far) may not agree with my take on things.

Has anybody had anything similar and what advice can you give?

marliepanda

Stuck between a rock and a hard place I imagine.

As a buyer, there is no chance on earth I'm buying somewhere in a forced sale from a dug addled alcoholic lowlife. I'd be concerned about him returning etc. That and the fact it sounds in a horrific condition.

Who actually lives there now? You say he left in 2014?

DJBenson

It's just him living there at the moment. My thoughts were to force the sale, have it secured then auction it for however much we can get for it but step one seems difficult.

To be fair I've seen much worse properties on Homes Under the Hammer :-)

Pixie5740

There have been previous threads where people have had to force the sale of a property jointly owned with an ex or family. I'm sure one poster who took it all the way and managed to force the sale was awarded his court costs because the other party (an ex I think) was dragging her heels for no good reason.

DJBenson

Mmm awarding costs wouldn't benefit me as he doesn't work so would not be able to afford them. One option is to use a lump sum inheritance he is due to buy me out but I think he'd rather spend that on drugs and booze

Pixie5740

He might not have an income but he does have an asset - the house - so court costs could potentially be deducted from his share of the sales proceeds.

If you're going to force the sale start the ball rolling now. If you're resigned to the fact he will continue living in the house indefinitely then let it go.

DJBenson

Good point on the proceeds of the house - I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the admin I'm doing at the moment administering my late grandfathers estate and now this - the shame is, my grandfather was in the process of transferring ownership of the house back to himself with both our consent but he died before anything happened so now I'm left to sort out the mess.

My mind is set on selling up, so that's the route I'm taking - but the solicitors did suggest walking away as an option, I suspect when £30k of readily available cash hits his account he'll be dead soon enough

G_M

I was going to suggest having papers ready, wait for a good day, and get him to sign, but.....

what if you get everything agreed (or court order/forced to sell), go to auction, but he fails to move out? You fail to Complete in the contractual 28 days or whatever, and you then get hit by the buyer for costs.......?? :eek: He sounds flaky enough.....

Rather than pay a solicitor to look for restrictions on sale, why not pay £3 and DIY? If you don't understand wording in the Title, ask here.

But it seems to me the only safe (and economic) way to do this is to find him alternative accomodation and pursuade him to take it....

DJBenson

I have the title deeds from the land registry website but the solicitor is hung up on this paragraph;

RESTRICTION: No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.

I Googled this and it seems to be boilerplate for tenancy in common transfers (here) but when I emailed the solicitor to say I think he's barking up the wrong tree, I got a reply saying that this clause "effectively severs the tenancy in common" and that "we" need to check the land registry to see if they have the original transfer documents to see if there is a "life interest" in the property.

There's a letter in the post apparently.

silvercar

My grandfather (who passed away just last week) transferred ownership of the family home to my brother and I in 2005 - he continued to live there until 2014 when he moved out to live with somebody else.

I left the family home about 10 years ago to live with my now wife.

So who lived there?

I take your post to mean you lived in the property with your grandfather and brother from 2005 (or earlier). Your brother has lived there for the whole time, but you moved out around 2007.

On sale you may have a capital gains tax as you owned half the property from 2005 to 2017, but only lived in it 2005-2007. Your gain would be based on the gain (comparing the sale price with its value in 2005 ie the value of the property allowing for someone to have a right to live rent free in the property as long as they wish.)

It's state of disrepair will limit the current value, so may reduce your tax bill.

DJBenson

We were brought up by our grandparents so we lived there from around 1988. I moved out in around 2007 and bought my own home and my brother remained in the property with both grandparents until 2011 when my grandmother died and then around 2014 when my grandfather moved out. He's been the only tenant since 2014 to date.

I'm not overly concerned about CGT because the property is more than likely (based on my own research and the state of the property) worth less than it was in 2005. The value in 2005 was £72,000 and I think it's worth about £60,000 in its current state - I have no desire to do it up before selling it on so it will be sold in its current state. It was in need of modernisation anyway. It's a 3-bed mid-terrace with no central heating, no garden or off-street parking.

I may be surprised with the value as some land off the road where the house is was purchased and turned into a housing estate (50 units or so) so they might have dragged the area prices up slightly...but as I say, I'd be surprised.