Landlord & Tenant Act 1987 Section 5A

Doozergirl

paulbruk07 wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies.. i`ll have a quick word with my landlord about it.. shame as the asking price is well below market value in fact id say more than 50% lower.. so somebody will get a real bargain... maybe my rent will go down as a result?

It's the freehold; if the leases on the flats are long (ie. the flats are new) then they don't hold much value - no more than a couple of grand each flat. It had better be a big block! And it's expense for your landlord; so no hope of cheap rent.

The developer knows exactly what they are doing; sell the flats originally with equal value (or more) to any flat with share of freehold and then sell the share of freehold later.

Tell your landlord I said to take the 'right to manage' and screw the freeholder right over. Otherwise, the original developer is about to sell off the freehold to a professional managing agent. And the service charge will go up.

The joys of new build flat ownership :wall:

paulbruk07

Doozergirl wrote: »

It's the freehold; if the leases on the flats are long (ie. the flats are new) then they don't hold much value - no more than a couple of grand each flat.

Not quite that cheap.. around £55,000 per flat

Doozergirl

paulbruk07 wrote: »

Not quite that cheap.. around £55,000 per flat

Does it say £55,000 per flat or does it say £55,000? There's only one freehold. How many flats?

paulbruk07

Yes Sorry re-reading it, it doesn't say per flat just £55,000 with £5000 as a 10% deposit.

Richard_Webster

As ever, Doozer has it right.

You should pass this on to your immediate landlord. He then has the opportunity to join with a majority of the lessees of the various flats in the block to acquire the freehold from the freeholder for £55K. If they don't act quickly then the freeholder can sell it to some property company who may then sit working out wonderful ways to make money out of the lessees. Many and various are the charges and scams dreamt up by some property companies and their managing agents that have been described on this and other forums.

As a short term tenant it doesn't really matter to you, but it could be very important for your immediate landlord.

Lemon_Tree

Hello
Sorry to steal this thread, but i've just received a similar letter on behalf of Barratt Homes, i'm in the situation that there's 4 flats in our block, of which 3 are owner occupied the consideration is £1000. What do we need to do and what are the implications, there was never a management company as our leases stated that we are responsible for the general upkeep of the property and the ground rent is £15 p.a. which they have not been collecting (i know i have been sending them cheques which they refuse to cash). thanks for any advice that you may be able to provide.

Richard_Webster

If 3 (a majority of flatowners) club together then you can exercise your right of first refusal to buy the freehold from Barratts otherwise they will sell it to some property company. First things is to see what the other flat owners think about it - £1,000 seems quite cheap.

Lemon_Tree

thanks, i was thinking it was quite cheap, you're right we need to get together and chat, will try and grab people over the weekend.
thanks for your help. Will this change the leases or anything, they were for 999 years from '74
Also do we have to sort out a management company? it seems such a fuss for 4 tenants

catcrazygirl

StaceyAKelly wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana,arial,Helvetica]The Right of First Refusal (RFR) is provided by Part 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (the 1987 Act) as amended by the Housing Act 1996. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,arial,Helvetica]Where a landlord is proposing to sell his interest in a building containing flats in relation to which the RFR exists, he must, by law, first offer it to the tenants before offering it on the open market. He must serve formal notices on the tenants telling them what he is intending and must provide time for them to consider the offer; he cannot sell to another party during that time, nor offer the interest to anyone else at a price less than that proposed to the tenants or on different terms. Breach of these legal obligations by the landlord is a criminal offence. If the landlord sells without providing the Right of First Refusal, the tenants can serve a notice on the new owner demanding details of the transaction, including the price paid; they can then take action to force the new owner to sell to them at the price he paid. [/FONT]

Can anyone tell me what the time limit is for serving a notice on the new owner of a freehold which was sold without asking qualifying tenants if they wished to buy it? Many thanks.

sooz

Don't know the time limit, but suggest you speak to LEASE

www.lease-advice.org.uk