Concerned about venerable man with less than 50 years on his lease

JackSprout

I have found a property on an auction web site that I am interested in buying as an investment/ potential future home for my kids, on making enquires regarding the Freehold I met the potential neighbour downstairs. Nice guy lets call him Jack.
Jack has been in his flat well over 30 years and is in his 70s. Jack put me on the Freehold owner who I contacted to enquire about the Freehold. The buyer told me he had just accepted an offer for the Freehold just days before the auction, however the seller of the Freehold appeared to be completely unaware of the upcoming auction. I asked the Freehold seller if he would tell me who he was selling the Freehold to, so I could check them out, he refused which is his right. 
I am concerned that Jack is going to loose out as I don't think he has the aptitude or money to buy the Freehold, so I imagine the Freehold for the entire property would fall into the hand of this mysterious last minute buyer.
This may all be nothing and someone is simply trying to buy the Freehold for the upstairs flat before the auction, which is a smart move, however I am concerned for the old man downstairs. He only has 52-53 years left on the lease. For context the seller of the flat upstairs inherited the flat and I guess instructed the auction, I believe there is an interest in the Freehold by the upstairs property, however I cant see this detail on the legal pack however I am not an expert, they just mention that a Notice 42 has been presented to the Freehold owner.
Is there anyone that could look into this like an ombudsman or a regulating body, I have spoken to a couple of solicitors, one said it is what it is and the other said maybe I should contact the council. This all seems a bit sinister?

moneysavinghero

Jack has been there 30 years and is his 70's. Unlikely to be going anywhere. Unlikely to still be alive in 52 years.

princeofpounds

Jack still has his lease, nothing will change in that respect. He may be on a short lease in long leasehold terms, but it's going to last him well past his lifespan.

Whilst extending the lease (something he still has the right to do without the freehold) or buying the freehold soon would be financially advantageous to him from a net worth perspective, it would consume liquid cash in the near term - something he may be short of. There isn't much benefit to a pay-off in illiquid assets when you are dead. The reason I mention it is that this is mainly a problem for his inheritance, rather than for him personally. If he has relatives they can take an interest in his affairs, if they like.

There's no coercion of Jack going on, no-one is asking for his money. About the only thing that could be wrong is improper offering of the right of first refusal, if it qualifies. Otherwise, it's just a couple of private citizens exercising their right to transact freely.

https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/right-first-refusal/

So I am very much with the solicitor that said 'it is what it is'. And I'm not sure why the council would have any interest in it whatsoever.

anselld

Perhaps he cannot afford to extent the lease or buy the freehold.  Perhaps he doesnt want to.  He certainly doesn't need to if he is already in his 70s.

Why do you think he is losing out?  In his position it makes little or no difference who the Freeholder is.

theartfullodger

JackSprout said:

Concerned about venerable man

- Appreciate he is venerable in your view (I'm 73 year old so does that make me venerable likewise), but I'd be concerned has was vulnerable as well

Slithery

Did you mean vulnerable?

There is a very high chance that Jack will no longer be with us when his lease expires, so why does it matter?

AdrianC

If Jack is still in that flat into his 120s, then there may be an issue.

The freeholder cannot just change Jack's lease. It remains the same as it was when he bought it, bar the expiry date is 30yrs nearer.

Until then, the only potential issue is that the flat may be worth less when he leaves it to whoever he leaves it to. However, he almost certainly can't afford to extend the lease, so it's all a bit academic.

JackSprout

Just seems a case of nothing is wrong, but everything is wrong, someone is going to make money out of this and it wont be Jack, he's just an element of what seems to me to be a sick systems that appears to benefit everyone except Jack and his heirs. This would not happen if Jack was 32 and had a higher education.

Slithery

What do you think is wrong?
This is a perfectly standard leasehold arrangement.

AdrianC

JackSprout said:

Just seems a case of nothing is wrong, but everything is wrong, someone is going to make money out of this and it wont be Jack, he's just an element of what seems to me to be a sick systems that appears to benefit everyone except Jack and his heirs. This would not happen if Jack was 32 and had a higher education.

Let's leave his "heirs" out of it. It's nothing whatsoever to do with them. They get what Jack has got left once he's kicked the bucket, and he hasn't done that yet.

When Jack bought his flat "well over 30" years ago, it had a ~90 year lease. It is no surprise that 2073 is nearer now than it was in the 1980s. Right?

So the question is why Jack has not chosen to renew his lease during the 30-40 years he's owned it.
Perhaps he simply couldn't afford to. Well, I guess he still can't.
Perhaps he didn't see the benefit, since he was unlikely to still be extant when it expired.

One thing's for sure - the freeholder changing changes nothing. This is a red herring.
Jack's lease is no different to what it was in the 1980s when he bought it. Perhaps the freeholder has already changed several times since he bought the lease? NOTHING about his lease itself has changed. Including the expiry date...

You appear to be using this "vulnerable old man" as some kind of figurehead, unwittingly, for your own personal dislike of the leasehold system. There's not actually an awful lot you can do about that unless and until you get the PM to appoint you as Robert Jenrick's replacement as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government.

If you were an MP or member of the HoL on one of the committees that will scrutinise the proposed leasehold reforms, you could perhaps get some input into the direction it takes.

If you were an MP or member of the HoL, you would get a vote on any amendments.

That apart, all you can do is write a letter to Jenrick and ask him very nicely. As far as I'm aware, he doesn't read these forums, so you're not going to get very far in your campaigning here...

sheramber

 The buyer told me he had just accepted an offer for the Freehold just days before the auction
What buyer?
if it is the buyer  of the freehold then why do you need to ask the freeholder who he is?