Share of freehold company details

vedette

I bought a converted flat about a year ago in a property with two other flats and it came with a share of the freehold.One of the Directors who own one of the other flats has dealt with Buildings insurance over the years and electricity is also paid out of the service charge all three flats pay in each month.The company set up as far as I know is not a limited company.My query is that the Director that has been looking after it all for a number of years has never submitted any accounts and from reading various things it looks like we should have been?Also we don’t have any paperwork or certificate etc in regards to us owning the freehold which it seems would have been originally been given.When it was set up some years ago it was done by another flat owner who left and didn’t leave any of the paperwork.
Is anyone able to advise what we need to do going forward and if this is a big problem that we have not submitted anything?!

user1977

If it isn't a limited company - what is it? What form does your "share" take? Presumably this would have been explained to you by your solicitor when you bought?

vedette

It was just a company name that the 3 flats in the building made up and decided to go by.None of this was explained by the solicitor and there’s hardly any
mention of it when going through the sale documents.I’m wondering if I should just go back to the solicitor I instructed,but I was trying to get round paying another fee.

user1977

Why would they be charging you another fee, for failing to do the job you paid them for in the first place? The freeholder can't just be a "made up" company name, either it's actually a company or it's something else.

propertyrental

Have you paid £3 to the Land Registry to see who/what is the registered owner of the freehold?

https://search-property-information.service.gov.uk/?_ga=2.227252893.1011285419.1624257816-2123334908.1623227908

AlexMac

I agree the above.  It's remiss (or incompetent) of your conveyancing solicitor not to have explained - 

- exactly what you were buying and what the "Tenure" is (presumably it's a leasehold flat?)
- who the Freeholder is and if as you say, it's a Company, how that organisation is constituted, if it has any legal structure or constitution governing how it does business.  T
- whether you really have bought into a "Shared Freehold" and whether you are a Member or Director of the Company
- what your obligations are as a leaseholder, some of which may be spelled out in the lease  (e.g typically, to pay service charges and a share of costs, any restrictions e.g, not to sub-let for periods less than 6 months to avoid the hassle of short holiday lets to other occupiers, any restrictions on pets, whether you're obliged to carpet your floors to avoid noise transmission )
- and what the Freeholder's obligations are (e.g. to maintain, insure, etc, albeit usually with costs recharged to leaseholders).

As well as all the other stuff like results of local searches, the Freeholder's responses to the FPE (Freehold Property Enquiries ) form which covers lots of the stuff above, plus any plans for major planned repair or maintenance), and the seller's replies to the forms which ask what fittings, if any, they plan to leave; even down to things like kitchen white goods and curtain poles

That's been the case with every one of the leasehold flats I've owned;usually in a "Report on Title" which the solicitor has sometimes talked through with me or at least insisted I read before signing the contract.  They've usually also asked me to inspect the property to ensure that what I am buying matches the Title Plan - including clarifying what are dedicated areas like private patios or "my" bits of garden and what are communal areas.

So yes; it's entirely reasonable for you to ask the solicitor; that's what you paid them for- to inform and protect you (the whole point of being a "Limited" Company is that this "limits" liability, so that if anything goes pear shaped, or there is loss or damage (or worse - injury or death) the Directors' personal financial liability is limited.

Meanwhile, do google the Company Name and check the Companies House website to check if it really isn't a registered Company.  If it is, you might even be able to download it's constitution or "Mem & Arts" (Memorandum and Articles of Association).  If and if your documentation really doesn't spell out the name of your Freeholder, you can get this from the Land Registry for a few quid, as above.

But you really shouldn't have to do this. So give your Solicitor some stick

AlexMac

Oh and if it is a Company Registered with Companies House, there is usually a need to submit simple online accounts; but you can check if it is a Reg. Co.  I missed the deadline one year - only by one day- for one of the shared freeholds I owned where I was Treasurer; and copped an embarrassing £150 fine.  Although there might be exemptions...

Good luck!

vedette

Thanks for all the above comments,I will go back to my solicitor as I’ve looked through all my paperwork and can’t see anything which gives me the details I need.
I’ve googled the company name and nothing comes up at Companies House.If I don’t get anywhere with the solicitor I will pay the fee and check with land registry.

hazyjo

Would've thought a £3 fee would've been your first point of call.

vedette

Yes,for £3 it’s probably quicker and easier.If it’s registered great but then the second thing I need to know is if we should have been submitting accounts as we haven’t been for quite a few years!

propertyrental

vedette said:

Thanks for all the above comments,I will go back to my solicitor as I’ve looked through all my paperwork and can’t see anything which gives me the details I need.
I’ve googled the company name and nothing comes up at Companies House.If I don’t get anywhere with the solicitor I will pay the fee and check with land registry.

What's the point of googling/researching the company name before establishing the name of the company (or individual(s) who own the freehold?