Shared freeholder not releasing TR1

arturski

Hello everyone, hope somebody can help with the problem I am having.

My wife and I are joint freeholders of a converted terraced house. We own and live (until recently due to moving abroad) in the downstairs flat, upstairs flat is rented out by a landlord who just recently purchased it (around September 2016).

We are currently in the process of the sale and have a buyer. I have been in contact with the new owner upstairs over the last few months as he needed to co-sign the LP1 and the TR1 forms and he also needed to do some repairs to the roof and outside walls. We agreed to help each other by me providing access to the flat for repairs as well as half the funds (which I fully paid) and him providing the signatures on the forms.

The LP1 was dragged out for several months by the inactivity of his solicitor. Now that we are on the last stage, he signed the TR1 but told his solicitor not to release it. He then started querying me about joint garden access, because he seems to think that his lease says he should have access and in a telephone conversation implied that if I write a letter giving him the right to build a staircase from his back bedroom down to my garden it will make things easier. Otherwise he will need some time to study the lease before he makes a decision.

I called him on extortion and he got very offended at which point he said he will get in touch in a few days after studying the lease. His solicitor confirmed he signed the form but is under instruction not to release it.

We have studied both leases with my solicitor and found the differences in regards to the garden, he is in a position to contest it, but is very unlikely to win. The way the lease marks the right to the garden is a little unusual and he could argue that there is a mistake in his lease.

Lease disputes aside he will be in the same situation with my buyer as he is with me now so if he does want to contest it, the sale will make no difference. The problem is he knows that I am in a position of weakness because I am abroad and need to sell the flat as soon as possible and trying to take advantage.

I told him that I will not be providing any letters, and my solicitor said that we cannot do anything until he says that he will not give back the documents and if so we can get a court order, this however will most likely lose my buyer forcing me to go into debt paying for mortgage and rent and all the legal fees.

Can somebody please advise me on what I can do to protect myself. Surely he cannot just get away with forcing me to lose my buyer and a lot of money.

Am I able to take legal action if I lose my buyer?
Can I force him to return the documents quickly?
In case of legal action, would we be able to recover all loss from him, such as legal fees and personal loss?