LPE01 Solicitor cannot assist/ advise/ explain ?

Worpy1

Hello 

I am in the process of selling my flat which is one of 4 in a block, my self and the other leaseholders have a share of the freehold and are directors of the company we do not use a separate managing agent. I have completed the LPE01 myself with the help of google/ Chat GPT. When I have previously asked mu solicitor who is handling the sale to explain one of the questions to me they have refused and said they cannot advise on this and I should refer to one of the other directors, none of which have any experience of conveyancing. I reiterated that I was not asking for advice but for the question to be explained to me in layman terms they still refuse and I have recently received the response below from them.

Please see attached leasehold property enquiry replies you have given us. Please note that if you are unsure of these answers and are unable to complete the full form, you will need to instruct a separate solicitor to advise on completing this. If you are a director of the landlord then you will need to instruct a separate solicitor to advise on behalf of the company to provide these replies.

I seriously now need to instruct and pay for another solicitor on top the first one ? 

anselld

What is the question in question?
You don’t need a separate solicitor if you are able to answer all the questions accurately and provide the necessary supporting information.

Worpy1

I have answered all the questions so I have gone back and asked them specifically which question they or the buyers seller are referring to.  Also I didn't mean to hit report to your post fat fingers sorry 😐 

Bigphil1474

That's confusing. You've answered the questions so why do you need advice?
I suspect the solicitor is saying that they can't work for you as a vendor and advise you as a Director of the company. Maybe they misunderstood you wanting clarity on the wording rather than advice on what the answer should be. Equally, they probably don't want to work for free (on that matter).

poseidon1

I found your query interesting since I live in a 4 unit block  ( a converted house) set up with a freehold company with underlying 995 year leases at peppercorn rent.

There are no service charges, no company bank account, no agents, building maintenance conducted  ad hoc and by agreement amongst the leaseholders, whilst I ( as one of the directors) handle annual buildings insurance as well as Companies House compliance.

I have never seen an LPE1, so had a quick look.

When the basement flat changed hands in 2019 I assume the vendor ( a co director) had to address an LPE1 at the time. I can only assume that responses to the majority of questions were marked 'not applicable'.

Solicitors for the buyers approached me to confirm information related to the legal status of the company, building insurance and who would be handling the transfer of shareholding in the freehold company. I personally handled all these queries  on the Company's behalf without a solicitor in my corner, and the sale went through smoothly. That said, I do have legal training so was confident taking on that role. I do wonder if your solicitor has issues with the freehold company side of this matter.

So in your case, will one of your fellow directors undertake to respond  to the buyers solicitors questions related to company admin and compliance? Specifically who amongst the four of you deals with annual Companies House compliance, and who will sign off on the stock transfer of your company shares to the prospective buyer?

What your query has flagged for me is that when I come to sell and have to personally address LPE1, I would perhaps be in the awkward position of having to wear two hats as seller of the leasehold and also the primary director responding to the queries addressed to freehold company landlord.

 One issue I would have to sort out in advance of selling, is getting one of my fellow directors to undertake taking over Companies House compliance and arranging buildings insurance since I cannot imagine the average flat buyer being qualified or indeed willing to take on those tasks in my stead.

I do have a solicitor firm I have used over many years for various different legal matters ( including an aborted house purchase), so when the time comes will sound them out if they perceive any conflicts that might arise in the two roles I will be performing and how this feeds through to the LPE1.

Brie

A few years back when we were selling MiL's flat we ended up in the ludicrous position of having to complete the LPE1 on behalf of the freeholder's solicitor. 

Basically the freeholder didn't understand what a LPE1 was despite having purchased the house with 3 flats just a year earlier.  And they couldn't answer any of the questions on it so simply refused.  Presumably they bought the place without getting an LPE1 from the previous owner.  The only way for MiL to sell the place was for us to complete the form (MiL having lived there for over 30 years so we knew everything) and pass that to the freeholder's solicitor and pay him about £700 to rubber stamp it.  

user1977

I suspect this is a combination of (a) the solicitors have quoted for a transaction which is purely the sale by the leaseholder, and don't want to delve into giving advice to you wearing your freeholder hat too, and (b) the solicitors being wary of a potential conflict of interest (if it turns out that the freeholders collectively have some difference of opinion with you as a leaseholder about something).

poseidon1

Brie said:

A few years back when we were selling MiL's flat we ended up in the ludicrous position of having to complete the LPE1 on behalf of the freeholder's solicitor. 

Basically the freeholder didn't understand what a LPE1 was despite having purchased the house with 3 flats just a year earlier.  And they couldn't answer any of the questions on it so simply refused.  Presumably they bought the place without getting an LPE1 from the previous owner.  The only way for MiL to sell the place was for us to complete the form (MiL having lived there for over 30 years so we knew everything) and pass that to the freeholder's solicitor and pay him about £700 to rubber stamp it.  

Sounds like the Freeholder in your case was an individual rather than a corporate entity. Company owned freeholds introduce additional nuances that don't apply with personally owned freeholds.