My rights as half owner of freehold

mexicano54

I own the ground floor flat of a two flat house conversion. Several years ago myself and the owner of the first floor flat bought the freehold on the property.

Now the people upstairs have put their flat on the market.

I notice that on the estate agents blurb it states "Loft Potential (STPP)"

My question is, if the new owners want to build up the loft do I have any rights? i.e. can I stop them from building up the roof even though it is their flat?

It will mean that the roof would have to be removed and scaffolding and tarps be built around the house!

I'm 72 years old and don't want to be inconvenienced by all the dust and noise that will entail, probably for several months! I have nowhere to move to, except a hotel.

Hopefull the new owners will not consider building upwards but I would like to be prepared, just in case.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

user1977

Nobody can advise without seeing their lease. What does it say about the extent of what is included in their lease, and about alterations?

eddddy

The starting point would be to read the leases.

For example...

• Is the loft demised to the upstairs flat - i.e. does the loft 'belong' to the upstairs leaseholder, or does it 'belong' to the joint freeholders?

• (But to be honest, if the flat doesn't 'belong' to the upstairs leaseholder the estate agent shouldn't really be saying "Loft Potential (STPP)" - without more explanation.)

• And if the loft is demised to the upstairs flat - what about the roof? Again does the roof 'belong' to the upstairs flat or does it belong to the joint freeholders?

• And what do the leases say about 'alterations'? Usually, they'll either say "No Alterations" or "No Alterations without the freeholder's consent"

And depending on what the lease says:

• If the loft 'belongs' to the joint freeholders, you would probably own a 50% share - so the upstairs leaseholder would have to buy that 50% from you. For example, you could refuse to sell your 50%, which would scupper the plans.

• If the roof 'belongs' to the freeholders, the joint freeholders would have to agree to alterations to the roof - and as a 50% owner of the roof, you can probably veto any alterations.

• If the lease requires the upstairs leaseholder to get consent from the freeholder, as a 50% owner of the freehold you would be involved in that consenting process. You could ask for conditions like hours of working for the builders (e.g. only weekdays between 8am and 4pm), no storage of materials on site, etc.

You could also say that you will only consider giving consent, if you can take advice from a solicitor and a surveyor first, and the upstairs leaseholder must agree to pay their fees to you in advance.


(But occasionally you get bad situations where an upstairs leaseholder ignores all the rules in the lease and just goes ahead and converts a loft. In that case, you would probably have to get 'lawyered up" and take legal action to stop them. But that only happens rarely, as they'd be making their flat unsaleable.)

flaneurs_lobster

Quite likely to be standard Estate Agent boilerplate pufferey that's added to any property listing with a roof. Don't let it worry you.

All down to whatever your (and their) lease says.

It's often the case that these parts of a conversion (especially the roof) are "areas in common" and you both own them (and have responsibilities for maintaining and fixing them) and you would be within your rights to stop any alterations that were proposed.

If the upper flat's lease gives them sole ownership of the loft space and the roof then there's little you can do other than object to the planning proposal, but that would be unusual.

mexicano54

Thank you for all the advise. I've looked through my lease which was written originally in 1982 and I think I found the right clause, it states: The Lessee hereby covenants "To pay one half contribution towards the cost and expenses of constructing, repairing, rebuilding, renewing and lighting cleansing and maintaining all party walls, structures, chimney stacks and roofs and other things the use of which is common to the demised premises"

Sorry, I copies the whole paragraph, but I think that covers it. As we both own 50% each of the freehold then the roof is 50% each owned.

What do you think? Am I right? And if so, should I tell the people upstairs that the line in the estate agents blurb should be removed?

Albermarle

mexicano54 said:

Thank you for all the advise. I've looked through my lease which was written originally in 1982 and I think I found the right clause, it states: The Lessee hereby covenants "To pay one half contribution towards the cost and expenses of constructing, repairing, rebuilding, renewing and lighting cleansing and maintaining all party walls, structures, chimney stacks and roofs and other things the use of which is common to the demised premises"

Sorry, I copies the whole paragraph, but I think that covers it. As we both own 50% each of the freehold then the roof is 50% each owned.

What do you think? Am I right? And if so, should I tell the people upstairs that the line in the estate agents blurb should be removed?

It does not mention the loft though.

I notice that on the estate agents blurb it states "Loft Potential (STPP)"

I do not think you necessarily need planning permission to convert a loft. It depends on exactly what would be done.

It will mean that the roof would have to be removed and scaffolding and tarps be built around the house!

A loft conversion does not usually mean the roof is removed. It can be, but normally all the work is done internally.
Also there are two basic types of loft conversion. 
They can be done properly, and the room can then be used as a bedroom/fully habitable space. Plus you can call it a bedroom if you ever come to sell.
Or it can be a much cheaper/quicker job, where the room would only really be suitable for storage etc .

mexicano54

Isn't the loft include "all party walls, structures, chimney stacks and roofs and other things the use of which is common to the demised premises"?

The agents recommend "the potential to create an additional bedroom or home office (STPP)"

I want to make sure that I can refuse the conversion if they want to remove the roof. 

If they just want to build inside the loft with velux/skylight windows then they can go ahead. There are two loft spaces, I guess one is mine, but I've never been up there and I don't intend to either.

user1977

You haven't told us what is demised to the flat (or to yours), you've only quoted the bit about repairing liability for whatever the common parts are (which by definition can't include the parts already demised to a particular flat).

mexicano54

All the lease shows is the outline, in blue, of the 2 flats, plus mine also has the back garden and the hallway entry, which has right of way for the people upstairs.
The lease diagram doesn’t show the loft or the roof.
 I just presume that the loft and roof is communal as per the quote.
A few years back we had storm damage to the roof so we each paid half towards the repairs and we paid for our own internal decorating I.e. my kitchen ceiling I paid for and he paid for his kitchen ceiling and floor. 

Albermarle

mexicano54 said:

Isn't the loft include "all party walls, structures, chimney stacks and roofs and other things the use of which is common to the demised premises"?

The agents recommend "the potential to create an additional bedroom or home office (STPP)"

I want to make sure that I can refuse the conversion if they want to remove the roof. 

If they just want to build inside the loft with velux/skylight windows then they can go ahead. There are two loft spaces, I guess one is mine, but I've never been up there and I don't intend to either.

Just be aware that even if the work is internal ( which it normally is) a loft conversion means altering the structure of the roof, removing supports etc.( and putting in a new proper staircase) 
If done properly this is not an issue, but its definitely not a DIY job and needs to be supervised by building control. Also it is expensive.
As this could affect the roof ( even when it is not actually removed ) you could be covered by the statement above maybe.
If they just board the floor and access via a loft ladder, then less of an issue.
Of course the new owners might well not do anything at all. 

eddddy

mexicano54 said:

Isn't the loft include "all party walls, structures, chimney stacks and roofs and other things the use of which is common to the demised premises"?

No - the loft isn't mentioned, only the roof is mentioned (which is the structure over the loft).

But the lease snippet you quoted isn't 100% proof that the roof is owned by the freeholders, and it says nothing about ownership of the loft.

mexicano54 said:

If they just want to build inside the loft with velux/skylight windows then they can go ahead. 

Converting a loft would normally involve putting in velux window and/or dormer windows - not removing the roof. But some scaffolding might be required.

But if the roof is owned by the freeholders, as a joint freeholder, you would have to decide whether to give consent for holes to be cut in the roof for the velux and/or dormer windows.

mexicano54 said:

There are two loft spaces, I guess one is mine...

That sounds unlikely.

If you jointly own the loft - it's not a case of you owning one area within the loft.  You would jointly own whole loft.

(It's like if you jointly own a car - it's not the case that one person owns the front half of the car, and somebody else owns the back half. You jointly own the whole car.)