Surrender leases and share Freehold with husband

heavenlywoman

Hello,

I own the freehold of a townhouse whech was converted into 3 flats in the 50s. One flat is owned leasehold by myself, another is owned freehold (so doesn't have a lease) by myself and the other one is owned leasehold by my husband.

My husband and I are planning to convert the property back to a house and live in it again. We are thinking therefore to surrender the 2 leases and share the it as a freehold jointly in both our names, rather than just mine. Please can anyone advise us to the process of getting rid of the leases etc and sharing the freehold? Do we need a solicitor to do this or can we do this ourselves directly with the land registery?

Also are there any other considerations, like tax etc,  we should think about in doing this? I am aware that having not lived there, if we chose to sell it, we would be liable for the capital gains tax prior to moving in,  but just want to double check we are not missing anything in changing the ownership/freehold and cancelling the 2 leases.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thank you.

poseidon1

heavenlywoman said:

Hello,

I own the freehold of a townhouse whech was converted into 3 flats in the 50s. One flat is owned leasehold by myself, another is owned freehold (so doesn't have a lease) by myself and the other one is owned leasehold by my husband.

My husband and I are planning to convert the property back to a house and live in it again. We are thinking therefore to surrender the 2 leases and share the it as a freehold jointly in both our names, rather than just mine. Please can anyone advise us to the process of getting rid of the leases etc and sharing the freehold? Do we need a solicitor to do this or can we do this ourselves directly with the land registery?

Also are there any other considerations, like tax etc,  we should think about in doing this? I am aware that having not lived there, if we chose to sell it, we would be liable for the capital gains tax prior to moving in,  but just want to double check we are not missing anything in changing the ownership/freehold and cancelling the 2 leases.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Article below covers planning law, building regs and attitude of your local authority towards your proposed deconversion. Depending on the attitude of your local authority you might benefit from professional help. Not sure if this is a concern to you, but would a single dwelling be worth more than the collective value of the 3 flats in the area you live - ie will the deconversion leave you with a less valuable property?

https://urbanistarchitecture.co.uk/converting-flats-into-one-house/#:~:text=Smaller conversions may only need,may depend on your postcode.


As for the legal task of surrendering leases, organising transfer deeds and re-registering the single dwelling with the land register this is probably best done by a solicitor so I would get a couple of quotes from conveyancing firms. 

You don't mention if there any mortgages on the individual dwellings so issues with your lender/s could arise as well as potential stamp duty depending on how any mortgage is to be dealt with as part of the deconversion.

Also in theory, surrender of long  leases might technically give rise to cgt considerations ( the value of the freehold title enhanced by the elimination of the subleases). However  since you are wearing both hats as freeholder/ leaseholder and your husband is also a leaseholder any technical cgt issues should evaporate ( you are on both sides of the acquisition/disposal ).