Flying Freehold

G_samy

I am in the process of purchasing a house. My solicitor has informed me that from the investigations into the legal title to my property have revealed defects related to flying freehold for the carport space which does not provide adequate rights of support to allow for such structure. Hence the need for the indemnity policy.  The seller states that in terms of maintenance and repair of this space it never came up when they brought and the seller insures the property as normal.

I want to understand whether having indemnity policy is a full proof solution and should we walk away from the transaction for this issue, and if there is any future implication on re-mortgage and sale. 

We are first time buyer, hence not been able to appreciate the gravity of this issue.

Any feedback will be much appreciate. 

Grizebeck

Dont over egg the pudding
Indemnity policies are such a waste of money often sold to gullible first time buyers.
Ive just purchased a house and the solicitor recommended one. I basically turned round and said they are as much use as a choclate fire guard. (But then i am a cash buyer so maybe different if mortgage company require)
Such a minor thing should not put you.of the house
Flying freeholds are not uncommon

silvercar

Is there something on top of the car port? Flying freeholds occur when you own something without owning the ground beneath it. 

Repair, maintenance and insurance are irrelevant to this, it’s an owning issue.

G_samy

silvercar said:

Is there something on top of the car port? Flying freeholds occur when you own something without owning the ground beneath it. 

Repair, maintenance and insurance are irrelevant to this, it’s an owning issue.

Yes, there is an apartment/flat on top of the car port. The title deed of the property I am purchasing is showing the car port area.

CSI_Yorkshire

G_samy said:

silvercar said:

Is there something on top of the car port? Flying freeholds occur when you own something without owning the ground beneath it. 

Repair, maintenance and insurance are irrelevant to this, it’s an owning issue.

Yes, there is an apartment/flat on top of the car port. The title deed of the property I am purchasing is showing the car port area.

So someone else has a flying freehold over the property that you are planning to buy?

And there's nothing in your deeds that means you have to provide sufficient support for the building above?

That sounds like their problem, not yours.

silvercar

CSI_Yorkshire said:

G_samy said:

silvercar said:

Is there something on top of the car port? Flying freeholds occur when you own something without owning the ground beneath it. 

Repair, maintenance and insurance are irrelevant to this, it’s an owning issue.

Yes, there is an apartment/flat on top of the car port. The title deed of the property I am purchasing is showing the car port area.

So someone else has a flying freehold over the property that you are planning to buy?

And there's nothing in your deeds that means you have to provide sufficient support for the building above?

That sounds like their problem, not yours.

Until their room lands on your car!

In land ownership terms it is their problem more than yours. You would expect your deeds to show that you your neighbour has a flying freehold over that area. More importantly for them, their deeds should show the flying freehold.

user1977

OP, given you're paying your solicitor ££££ to give you legal advice, have they explained to you in terms you can understand:

• what the problem is
• how the indemnity insurance helps?

As others are saying, it isn't something which means you should run away (and if it was, your solicitor wouldn't be telling you that it's acceptable with the indemnity insurance).

eddddy

CSI_Yorkshire said:

That sounds like their problem, not yours.

Typically, an issue for the OP would be 'right of shelter/protection'.

For example, if the flying freehold was above the OPs kitchen - and the owner of the flying freehold demolished their building (or failed to rebuild it after a fire), the OP would have no roof above their kitchen.

But as the flying freehold is only above a car port, perhaps it's not so important in this case.

G_samy said:

I want to understand whether having indemnity policy is a full proof solution and should we walk away from the transaction for this issue, and if there is any future implication on re-mortgage and sale. 

An indemnity insurance policy typically covers loss in property value. But in this case, not having a roof over the car port space probably wouldn't reduce the value of the property - so it's probably not relevant.


So your options might be:

• Have an argument with the mortgage lender - and say that the value of the property wouldn't be affected by a lack of shelter/protection for the car port - and you might have to pay for a RICS valuer to confirm that in a report. Or

• Pay maybe £100 for an indemnity policy - to make the problem go away

MultiFuelBurner

Solicitors do love their indemnity commission 

Grizebeck

MultiFuelBurner said:

Solicitors do love their indemnity commission 

Yes and they do well out of it 

loubel

It sounds like the issue is as eddddy says, lack of rights of shelter and protection combined with lack of maintenance obligations and access rights between the garage and the flat above (I'm assuming that the actual existence of the flat above is clear on the title). 

This is a defective title which in reality is unlikely to cause you any major issues going forwards but for which you need an insurance policy to cover the possibility of such issues (legal costs in a dispute over maintenance could be very high!). This protects both you and your lender and saves you having to instead insist on the seller rectifying the issue, which would be extremely slow and costly. This is a common and acceptable way forwards in such situations.