Share of freehold - What documents should I have?

Ginger_Winner

Hi everyone...

I live in a flat which is part of a large house which has been converted into 5 flats. I own the leasehold for my flat and I am also a joint owner of the freehold with the other 4 leaseholders. I understand that the management of the freehold is arranged by means of a limited company of which I am one of the directors. All sounds pretty straight forward, but my problem is that I don't have any documentation to show that I have a share of the freehold or indeed a directorship of this company.

One of the flat owners acts as the secretary for the company and submits the annual accounts each year, arranges insurance and coordinates a common fund that we all pay into to take care of maintenance. He has inherited this responsibility from a previous flat owner, and while he is very good at coordinating repairs to the building and managing the finances, he has never had explained to him the other points of process and procedure involved when a flat is bought and sold. So when I have asked him about this, he is unable to help.

I want to get to the bottom of this and ensure that we put in place the correct procedure and documentation. So, my reason for posting on here is to see if anyone can help me out by letting me know exactly what documentation I should have pertaining to my share of the freehold, and also how I can go about getting hold of that documentation and if necessary, arrange for it to be updated with my details. I appreciate that my solicitors are probably at error here, but given that I purchased the flat 13 years ago, I would prefer to sort this out myself as I suspect that will be more expedient.

If anyone could help me shed some light on the this, I would be very grateful....

AdrianC

Your freehold share is the ownership of 20% of the shares in that limited company.

There's no certificate to prove that - it's recorded by the Company Secretary in the company's shareholder's register. As CoSec, he has very strictly defined legal responsibilities, which he really has to be competent at performing. Filing the company's legal information is one of those responsibilities - and that includes the shareholders.

All documents filed at Companies House are publicly available. Have a look at the listing there.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search/companies

Ginger_Winner

AdrianC said:

Your freehold share is the ownership of 20% of the shares in that limited company.

There's no certificate to prove that - it's recorded by the Company Secretary in the company's shareholder's register. As CoSec, he has very strictly defined legal responsibilities, which he really has to be competent at performing. Filing the company's legal information is one of those responsibilities - and that includes the shareholders.

All documents filed at Companies House are publicly available. Have a look at the listing there.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search/companies

Many thanks - I've just checked the companies house listing and it seems rather curious...
Two of the flat owners are listed and two of the others are showing as having resigned the same date that the company secretary was appointed. I am not listed but the previous person who owned my flat was in the past.
To rectify this, is it just a case of asking our company secretary to amend this information? 
Are there any wider implications?

AdrianC

Are you looking at the directorships? That's not the same as shareholdings.
Look at the Filing History tab, and the most recent annual return, which will have a list of shareholders.

Ginger_Winner

AdrianC said:

Are you looking at the directorships? That's not the same as shareholdings.
Look at the Filing History tab, and the most recent annual return, which will have a list of shareholders.

Ah, thanks - yes, each of flat owners are listed as shareholders in the annual return.
This is now making me wonder why I would not have been included as a director when I purchased the flat? Would this be a policy decided on by the company or is there a standard practice for such matters?
Also, am I correct to assume that technically it's the directors that make the decisions whereas the shareholders do not?
Is it normal to have no acknowledgement of my shareholding other than a reference made in the annual return? It makes me feel a bit uneasy.
Sorry for all the questions - I really appreciate your advice and for helping me to understand this.