Trying to sell my flat despite uncooperative freeholder

dgaidge

I bought a flat in 2005. I bought it from my freeholder who at the time was happy to provide the information needed but since then has pretty much disappeared (I believe he actually passed on the freehold to his wife when he went bankrupt).

I have tried to contact him over the year and he sometimes replies by email promising to do look into what I ask him but have never done anything.

I have asked him to set up a management company, he agreed to it but never did it. I offered to set it up and pay for it etc, he never got back to me.

I asked him to send me the building insurance info, he said he would but he never did.

I asked him to do some maintenance, he never did.

I have his email address so he is not completely absent just completely uncooperative.

I am now in the process of selling the flat, and my solicitor got hold of his solicitor, who keeps on promising a LPE form with management company info (I don't believe there is a management company) and building insurance info, but he is not giving us anything. I cannot sell without the information and the value of my flat is lower because of the lack of management company (I bought the flat 15 years ago, lived in it and then moved out and have been unable to sell since).

I read this somewhere: "a freeholder must respond to a written request for a summary of the policy within 21 days of it being made. The summary must show the sum for which the building is insured, the name of the insurer and the risks covered by the policy. If a freeholder fails to provide insurance information, he or she is committing an offence and could potentially be liable for a fine of up to £2,500" How can I enforce that?

There are 3 flats in the building, but annoyingly we do not have the right to manage because there is a big commercial unit on the ground floor which exceeds 25% of the total floor area. I have a contact for all the other owners, who also are pretty annoyed at the situation.

I have not paid the ground rent or the building insurance for years as he has not invoiced me and i don't know where to pay.

I am not sure what my options are. Can I buy the freehold even if there is a commercial property? How do I get it valued (he valued it at £100K a while back). Luckily the lease is valid for more than 900 years...

Is there any other option but to pay a solicitor to try and sort it? I paid a solicitor a while back who charged me £600 to look at the lease and that was it, he was going to charge me another £600 to write a letter.

Many thanks

D_M_E

If he went bankrupt then I suspect that he no longer owns the freehold and therefore you should not be contacting him about it.

Have you been on the land registry site and downlaoded the freehold title and looked at who is listed as the freeholder?

Could it be that no insurance documents have been produced because they do not exist and the building is not insured?

As for buying the freehold - yes, you can buy it but you need to agree a value for it and get it independently valued but first you need to find out who actually owns it.

dgaidge

Hi, Thanks for getting back to me.

His wife is the new freeholder but she has never ever been in touch with me so we (my solicitor/conveyancer) are in touch with his solicitor who has said the building is insured and he is waiting for the info from the freeholder to sent it to us. Even though he passed on the freehold to his wife, he is basically acting as the freeholder.... but he is is not cooperating.

Do you know how I can get a freehold valued? I just wonder if it is not more complicated because of the commercial unit at the bottom.

Thanks

SerialRenter

I have asked him to set up a management company, he agreed to it but never did it. I offered to set it up and pay for it etc, he never got back to me.

I'm afraid i don't really have anything useful to add, but i was wondering what's the benefit of asking a sole owner of the freehold to set up a management company?

D_M_E

I don't have much experience in these things but to buy a ferehold I would think that you would need probably three valuations from surveyors, then approach the freeholder with an offer to purchase.

Try asking survey companies if they do freehold valuations, or possibly local estate agents - a freehold is just another parcel of land whatever is built on it?

Maybe someone who knows about these things will comment, but the above would be my starting point.

Could be that the commercial premises on the ground floor would affect its value?

eddddy

The commercial units in the building might make the freehold very much more expensive.

In simple terms, there are two ways you could attempt to buy the freehold.


1. Collective Enfranchisement.
That allows leaseholders to compulsorily purchase the freehold - if certain conditions are met (e.g. No more than 25% of the building must be commercial.)
See: https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/ce-getting-started/


2. Informal negotiation
That's just like buying an other property. You ask the freeholder if they'd consider selling, and if so, you try to find a price that you both agree on.

moneyistooshorttomention

You know/we know that the original freeholder still owns it. But - if he's pulled a stunt and stuck it in his wife's name - then technically speaking it's hers now (yeah...yeah...even though we all know he's still the real owner:cool:).

So - I don't know if he could get into any sort of "trouble" by acting like the freeholder we know he is "in actual fact". Hence I would have thought you are best off dealing with the person who appears to own the freehold (ie his wife).

I don't suppose he wants to do anything that would constitute an admission that he is still really the owner...:cool: - even if the law couldnt come down on him for it.

dgaidge

hi SerialRenter, lenders don't like lending without a management company, which is why I need one in place. I don't have the right to manage, he needs to do it.

Norman_Castle

eddddy wrote: »

1. Collective Enfranchisement.
That allows leaseholders to compulsorily purchase the freehold - if certain conditions are met (e.g. No more than 25% of the building must be commercial.)
See: https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/ce-getting-started/

This says 50%


There are three requirements for the building to qualify:

• it must contain at least two flats;
• no more than 50% of the building is in non-residential use; and
• Not less than two thirds of the flats in the building are held by !!!8220;qualifying tenants!!!8221; (see definition of !!!8220;qualifying tenant !!!8220; below)

The building will be excluded if more than 50% of the internal floor space (excluding the common areas) is in non-residential use, e.g., is used as offices or shops.


https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/acquisition-orders-compulsory-acquisition-freehold/

fussyhumanbeing1

Out of interest, how much building insurance contribution is paid by each flat?

dgaidge

HI fussyhumanbeing1, I have not paid the ground rent or the building insurance for years as he has not invoiced me and i don't know where to pay. I have asked him on some occasions but he does not reply to emails,