Freeholder not responding

Ava2020

Anyone have any advice on how to deal with a freeholder that isn't responding to my solicitor or to me? I'm at risk of losing the sale. I need the freeholder to give their written consent as the buyer is a limited company.

eddddy

What type of freeholder do you have - an individual, a small company, a large company?  Have you tried phoning them to find out the reason for the delay? You could ask them if they need a fee paid in advance for giving consent.

But taking a step back, why are you wanting written consent from the freeholder? Does the lease say that it's needed?

NameUnavailable

Unfortunately there's no legal requirement for the freeholder to respond, even if it prevents you from selling. Another thing for anyone buying a freehold to be aware of! The problem freeholders are usually the private ones in my experience.

Ava2020

eddddy said: What type of freeholder do you have - an individual, a small company, a large company?  Have you tried phoning them to find out the reason for the delay? You could ask them if they need a fee paid in advance for giving consent.

But taking a step back, why are you wanting written consent from the freeholder? Does the lease say that it's needed?

Yes sadly the lease states I need written consent. It's a limited company that owns the freehold and my they use another company for paperwork. Both companies are owned by the same chap. Calls cannot be taken as the office is only manned by the receptionist. Unfortunately as the other comment says, there is no legal requirement for them to respond. Very frustrating. 

eddddy

Ava2020 said:

Yes sadly the lease states I need written consent. 

I should have asked more clearly.... What does the lease say you need written consent for?

Does it really say that you need written consent to sell the flat to a limited company? That seems unlikely.

Ava2020 said:

Unfortunately as the other comment says, there is no legal requirement for them to respond.  

That's not quite correct.

• If the lease says you need the freeholder's written consent (to sell to a ltd company), then the law says that the freeholder cannot withhold consent unreasonably. So you could potentially take legal action against them, if they don't respond with their consent.

• If the lease doesn't say you need you need the freeholder's written consent (to sell to a ltd company), you should be replying to the buyer that they are being a bit daft, asking for consent for something that the lease doesn't require consent for. (And it's not surprising the the freeholder is ignoring the request.)

• But if the buyer wants to do something that the lease doesn't allow (like maybe run some kind of business from the flat) - the freeholder probably couldn't legally give them permission, even if the freeholder wanted to.