Buying share of freehold - 50% rule

fincn

Quick question on freehold purchase. I live in an old house converted to four flats, one of which I lease. I'm at early stages of reviewing potential freehold purchase, I've read the MSE article, notably this bit:

"To qualify to buy the freehold, generally you need: At least two flats in the building, a lease longer than 21 years and for at least 50% of leaseholders to take part."

If say, 2 of the 4 of us wanted to buy the freehold - would the other 2 be oligated to join in the purchase, or would the rest of the freehold remain with the existing freeholder?

anselld

If only two participate you would still need to purchase the whole freehold and split the costs two ways.

Tom99

And then become the landlord of the two remaining flats with all the responsibility and benefits that can come with.
What is the lease term / ground rent of the other 2 flats? Is there a potential lease extension premium from them over the next few years?

eddddy

fincn wrote: »

If say, 2 of the 4 of us wanted to buy the freehold - would the other 2 be oligated to join in the purchase, or would the rest of the freehold remain with the existing freeholder?

The term "buying a share of the freehold" sometimes confuses people.

A freehold building is one single entity. A group of you would be clubbing together to buy it. So 2 or 3 or 4 of you would jointly own that building.

So those 2, 3 or 4 of you then have to agree things between you, like what repairs need doing to the building, which contractor should do the repairs, which insurer should insure the building etc.

fincn

Thanks - that's really helpful.

The background is that the house was converted in 1988, with a 125 year lease on my property.
I am approaching two years here so am considering extending the lease, which has 94 years left to run. I presume the others are the also had a 125 year lease that they haven't extended - but I'm not sure. Buying the freehold seems to be a similar cost to extending the lease - with the advantage of not having to pay the annual ground rent.

The freeholder arranges building insurance but everything else (hall lighting, cleaning etc) is currently run by ourselves via a management company that we all pay into each month via direct debit. In that sense organising our own building insurance doesn't seem to radically change things.

G_M

for more definitive and detailed info, see


https://www.lease-advice.org/advice/find-the-right-information-for-you/?step-option=61