Freehold + Leasehold Maisonette

RAS

Would the criss-cross lease/freehold be similar to Tyneside leases?

Land_Registry

RAS said:

Would the criss-cross lease/freehold be similar to Tyneside leases?

I've edited my initial reply (apologies RAS) as it appears that the term 'criss cross' leases is one that is now used to sometimes describe a similar leasehold/freehold set up to Tyneside leases referred to but in the south, inc Greater London.
However these types of leasehold/freehold are linked to the clearer scenario where A & B have two leasehold flats. And A owns the freehold of B and B the freehold of A hence the criss cross name.
Such arrangements rely heavily on the parties involved to stick to the scheme as devised and mainly to ensure that covenants/obligations are also stuck to once sold etc
But that's not what we have here as if I have read OP's posts correctly we only have the one leasehold flat and OP owns that and their own freehold. The neighbour upstairs owns their own freehold and no lease. As such whilst the covenants/obligations may still be impactful there must be 'more' to why the buyer can't complete.

bobbyfishmonk

Land_Registry said:

Firstly it's not unusual to have this sort of arrangement so I don't think it's an 'error' specifically although clearly things weren't perhaps explained adequately at the time you purchased your flat.
Secondly, and this is aimed mainly at the route of your original post, namely buyer can't get a mortgage, as that's most likely simply down to the lender and mortgage product chosen - every lender has a range of mortgage products available for a whole raft of scenarios although most borrowers (logically) opt for the one with the 'best' rates etc or the one the broker recommends. But each mortgage product will have a different risk profile so one may say No in this scenario whilst another might say Yes. That all depends on what's put into the process to get to the Yes or No response.
Thirdly for most leasehold flats the market value is in the leasehold. Logical really as the freehold value is far less as someone has a lease for X years. The lender's risk profile will factor in the class of title and tenure and doubtless then asks Qs re how long the lease has left, who owns the freehold and so on

Thanks for explaining this - it does make sense.

I never received an explanation on the buyer's exact issue with the lender. I was only told that they didn't like the current setup and it would need to be rewritten before the house could be sold. So it sounds like you're saying if I put my house back on the market, another set of buyers might get the mortgage approved.

The estate agent also told me the buyer had tried 'every lender out there' but they all rejected it for the same reason. It does make me wonder if this is the truth, or if the estate agent was minimising their workload since they had already found a buyer (much lower than asking price) and could now pass the buck to solicitors to deal with...

I think I have followed where the term 'criss cross' leases has come in although there's only one lease and a split freehold. You own your own freehold and leasehold parts so I can't see where upstairs comes into the sale/purchase aspect unless there's something they are required to complete to ensure that they, the neighbour, and buyer are then 'joined up' re certain responsibilities.

A criss cross lease (not a term I have seen regularly used by the way) is most likely associated with a freehold split with two flats/leases so each Leaseholder owns the Freehold of the upstairs part. IF that were the case then there can be some crossover as you would have to also transfer the freehold to your neighbour's flat. But that's not the case here.
The key Q appears to be why won't the lender lend against the information currently provided/processed? What has the buyer/broker said in that regard and is there a way of answering that that allows the mortgage/purchase to happen?

I was told if the sale is to go through, the lease needs to be rewritten and I would keep having this problem in the future with other buyers. I needed the neighbours cooperation to do this criss-cross lease, otherwise the freehold+leasehold structure would remain as-is and I would therefore find it difficult to find a buyer for my flat.

In hindsight I should have asked those questions and been more probing about the process. My experience of house selling is limited (first attempt here), and I thought the process was pretty much fill out those forms and let the solicitors debate between them. It seemed quite daunting 2 years ago to get involved in the nuances of an area I dont really have any expertise on. 

I'm guessing there's far more to this as the length of time (2 years?) to try and resolve.

I think a whole bunch of stuff happened wrt leases before I bought the house, but the 2 years has been mostly me trying to chase 3 very slow and uncooperative sets of solicitors. Sometimes they didn't reply to requests for a month.

Happy to look at the registered info if you Direct Message (DM+ me the details but I don't think that there will be too much to add to what your conveyancer has hopefully explained - there might be something though that makes you reliant on the neighbour to be involved but without looking at the specifics I can't be sure.

I would greatly appreciate your help here - I'll send you a DM with my details and the titles involved shortly. The original conveyancer has been pretty poor. One of them resigned midway through the sale (and I think that might have been what caused some early problems as they were clearly planning their exit from the firm and not paying attention). The current replacement conveyancer seems competent, but about 4 months ago has become extremely unresponsive - apparently the conveyancing firm dont like it that the case is taking this long and I'm on a fixed fee contract.

bobbyfishmonk

As such whilst the covenants/obligations may still be impactful there must be 'more' to why the buyer can't complete.

Understandably the buyer dropped out about 4 months ago. The buyer was waiting for the criss-cross lease to be completed, at which point the lender would approve the mortgage and then their solicitors could start the real work. I'm surprised they stayed with it for so long, but that could be because I dropped the asking price significantly under the advice of the estate agent.

loubel

You won't find a buyer easily without getting the title sorted - whether by setting up a criss-cross lease or a more standard share of freehold (I wouldn't suggest commonhold as you'll struggle to find a solicitor familiar with this and may still find it harder to sell on in the future). Anyone buying as it is would need to be a cash buyer and the price would be impacted by this. Your best bet is to raise a complaint with the firm for not advising you on the issues with a freehold flat when you purchased. You might need to instruct an independent solicitor to act for you on this going forwards.

bobbyfishmonk

loubel said:

You won't find a buyer easily without getting the title sorted - whether by setting up a criss-cross lease or a more standard share of freehold (I wouldn't suggest commonhold as you'll struggle to find a solicitor familiar with this and may still find it harder to sell on in the future). Anyone buying as it is would need to be a cash buyer and the price would be impacted by this. Your best bet is to raise a complaint with the firm for not advising you on the issues with a freehold flat when you purchased. You might need to instruct an independent solicitor to act for you on this going forwards.

Thanks @loubel. I have sent an email asking if they would cover the full cost of this criss-cross lease and mentioned I didnt receive any advice on this when buying. We'll see what they come back with...

loubel

Good luck!

Land_Registry

The OP kindly shared the specific details re the registered information and it's clear that there are issue(s) that need to be resolved and which will most likely involve the neighbour 
It's not what I would refer to as a criss cross lease situation as you actually have two freehold (upper and lower maisonettes) and just the one lease, the OPs
The criss cross (other names available) schemes were set up so that the two flats could be sold independently of one another and to create a Lessor/Lessee relationship between the two flat owners so that covenants could be enforced. The 'missing' second lease is perhaps something the conveyancer is trying to resolve and some of the time lag is I suspect down to the fact that a clear way forward re cost of all this has not been agreed with the neighbour.
The conveyancer(s) involved will be best placed to explain what happened and what needs to happen next