Who the hell is the freeholder of the flats?

[Deleted User]

I've never seen something so convoluted as this. On the land registry form there's 4 companies, one of them is a holding company, one is the proprietor, one is a trading company, one is a management company and the other is a list of 3 names. There's also some kind of secretary limited company listed further down in the document. 

I need to find out who to pay the ground rent and service charges too, as well as enquire about any planned changes to the structure of the block of flats that mine is in. 

I'm pretty sure the holding company is the actual freeholder and would be the ones who can approve / reject structural changes, or tell me about any plans to do said structure changes in the future. 

The management company I'm assuming are the ones who collect the ground rent and service charges? But these companies are ghosts... No website, no email, no contact number, but they are active on companies house.

Is it a case of employing 1970's technology and sending a good old fashioned written letter to contact these people? 

 There's things like Property Register, Proprietorship Register, Charges register etc. 

I'll probably just ask my solicitor to contact the sellers solicitor for the details.

user1977

What would be the point in a random freeholder company having a website?

Have you actually bought the property yet?

[Deleted User]

user1977 said:

What would be the point in a random freeholder company having a website?

Have you actually bought the property yet?

No.

Well I assumed they'd have a website with contact information or something? I mean imagine the roof caves in or there's a leak, who do I even call seeing as these companies are ghosts?

MyRealNameToo

[Deleted User] said:

user1977 said:

What would be the point in a random freeholder company having a website?

Have you actually bought the property yet?

No.

Well I assumed they'd have a website with contact information or something? I mean imagine the roof caves in or there's a leak, who do I even call seeing as these companies are ghosts?

Most are investment firms who will be "ghosts" and have little to nothing to do with the day to day running. Most appoint a managing agent who deal with the day to day and won't be listed on the deeds. These guys do have websites, telephone numbers, portals etc as they both need to attract new freeholders to use their services and interact with the leaseholders.

user1977

[Deleted User] said:

user1977 said:

What would be the point in a random freeholder company having a website?

Have you actually bought the property yet?

No.

In which case, your solicitor will let you know. No need for you to figure it out yourself at the moment.

eddddy

[Deleted User] said:

I need to find out who to pay the ground rent and service charges too, as well as enquire about any planned changes to the structure of the block of flats that mine is in. 

You'll get details of who to pay the ground rent and service charges to during conveyancing.

The details will also appear on every ground rent bill and service charge bill that you receive.

Your question about planned changes to the structure of the block of flats is a bit strange. Generally, freeholders cannot (or would not) make structural changes to a block of leasehold flats.

What is the thinking behind your question?

[Deleted User]

eddddy said:

[Deleted User] said:

I need to find out who to pay the ground rent and service charges too, as well as enquire about any planned changes to the structure of the block of flats that mine is in. 

You'll get details of who to pay the ground rent and service charges to during conveyancing.

The details will also appear on every ground rent bill and service charge bill that you receive.

Your question about planned changes to the structure of the block of flats is a bit strange. Generally, freeholders cannot (or would not) make structural changes to a block of leasehold flats.

What is the thinking behind your question?

The government relaxed restrictions about increasing the height of flats. An example https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/vismei/anyone_had_new_flats_built_on_top_of_their/

So I don't want to buy a top floor flat, which is currently the 3rd floor, only for the freeholders to decide they want to add another flat or 2 on top of mine. Being on the top floor is incredibly important for me due to the fact that banging from upstairs neighbours make me want to top myself. 

user1977

In any event it's your lease which will determine any rights you have (or not) in relation to such development, not the identity of the current freeholders.

eddddy

[Deleted User] said:

So I don't want to buy a top floor flat, which is currently the 3rd floor, only for the freeholders to decide they want to add another flat or 2 on top of mine. Being on the top floor is incredibly important for me due to the fact that banging from upstairs neighbours make me want to top myself. 

You could...

• Before making an offer on the flat, informally ask the seller if the freeholder has notified them of any plans to build a new storey

• During conveyancing, formally ask the seller the same question via solicitors - and ask the seller to ask the freeholder's solicitor the same question

But I suspect the most likely answer will be something like "There are no plans to build a new storey at present".

But obviously, plans can change.

Beyond that, as above, it's a case of reading the lease to see if it would be possible for a new storey to be built without your agreement.

[Deleted User]

eddddy said:

[Deleted User] said:

So I don't want to buy a top floor flat, which is currently the 3rd floor, only for the freeholders to decide they want to add another flat or 2 on top of mine. Being on the top floor is incredibly important for me due to the fact that banging from upstairs neighbours make me want to top myself. 

You could...

• Before making an offer on the flat, informally ask the seller if the freeholder has notified them of any plans to build a new storey

• During conveyancing, formally ask the seller the same question via solicitors - and ask the seller to ask the freeholder's solicitor the same question

But I suspect the most likely answer will be something like "There are no plans to build a new storey at present".

But obviously, plans can change.

Beyond that, as above, it's a case of reading the lease to see if it would be possible for a new storey to be built without your agreement.

I've skimmed through the lease agreement and this is way over my head. 

Also I've just realised it may not even apply to my block because the government law is for flats that have 3 storeys or more but my flat only has 2 storeys (I think).

It has the ground floor, which is typically 0, 1 and 2. So my block is only 2 storeys, but in the mortgage document they've listed the block as 3 storeys. 

I've just emailed my solicitor for help, maybe they can get the answers. 

Martico

Yours is a three storey property. Only a basement would be excluded. You have ground floor, first floor, second floor