Selling a flat, freeholder taking the p**s

[nitrodave]

We are in the process of moving home and selling our flat.

Our buyers solicitors sent a form for the freeholder to fill out which is just a few simple tick boxes and easy to answer questions.

Firstly, it's taken 2 weeks to even acknowledge receipt of the form which we hand delivered, secondly he wants £600 for the pleasure of completing it for us.

It will take him a matter of minutes, but we cannot proceed with our sale until this is done. He is really holding things up for us unnecessarily.

I'll pay it if I have to, but I'm resentful as he's a complete a-hole anyway and now really taking the biscuit on charging us this amount.

It seems to be an unregulated practice, but this needs to be done. Anyone else come across a greedy freeholder and got advice? Is there any way to bypass this process or advice on negotiating this cost?

I don't want to hold things up further and he won't do it until he is paid.

[nitrodave]

Dan_1981 said:

Our solicitor asked our freeholder for confirmation that our groundrent was paid upto date.

This amounts to what is being asked of them and I very much doubt they need to pass it by their solicitors.

£600 for ticking a few boxes just seems excessive and in my eyes is daylight robbery. A house move is expensive enough, but I guess there are a fair few hidden expenses.

Quite frankly, I'll be glad to see the back of them so I'll pay it and forget about it. They are a complete chore to deal with and the building is in a state of disrepair. Surely this should be a regulated practice?!

[nitrodave]

Ken Figenus said:

You should see some of the clauses and declarations you legally have to put your name and neck to to as a freeholder...

Please do share, I am genuinely interested in understanding more about this.

I appreciate that there is work involved from our freeholder, but not £600 worth. I will look into obtaining this info myself, but as it is, we have been held up long enough because of this and I really don't want to delay anymore.

I wouldn't mind if it was a couple of hundred, but £600 feels like I am being held to ransom on this.

[nitrodave]

Ken Figenus said:

nitrodave said:

Please do share, I am genuinely interested in understanding more about this.

I appreciate that there is work involved from our freeholder, but not £600 worth. I will look into obtaining this info myself, but as it is, we have been held up long enough because of this and I really don't want to delay anymore.

I wouldn't mind if it was a couple of hundred, but £600 feels like I am being held to ransom on this.

I got 3 separate A4 envelopes crammed with stuff from a sellers solicitor on one recently. My heart absolutely sank! I refused to sign certain clauses as they were not in my interest or knowledge - could have taken legal advice and added it to the couple of hundred quid I charged them for my time/help I guess...

I'd be upset at £600 too mind but are you dealing with an individual or a big company? And remember its a legal onerous document - not like signing a birthday card

Fair play for charging an honest £200, I would be happy with that, but I am clearly dealing with somebody who is prepared to take liberties with an unregulated legal hurdle. The fact it has taken 2 weeks to even open my letter is a wind up, then to be charged £600 for ticking a few boxes on 2 sheets of A4 just rubs salt in the wound.

Sooner it's done the sooner I can move on from it. I'll hopefully be in a freehold house very soon.

[nitrodave]

Greg66 said:

nitrodave said:

I don't want to hold things up further and he won't do it until he is paid.

Well that's the long and short of it, no? Pay him and move on.

It all depends what's more important to you: getting the deal done, or getting a discount off £600. If it's the latter then sit it out. But be prepared to lose the deal. Pyrrhic victory if the freeholder agrees to come down from £600 then though.

He has been paid by bank transfer the the same day he told me how much it would be. I want this done as a matter of urgency and as of today, my solicitor still has not received what we need. It is the last thing holding up the sale now.

As a bit of background on my situation, the flat is on the second floor above shops in stoke newington, london. We have a share of freehold which means any maintenance costs are paid when work needs doing. The share of freehold was purchased by us because we didn't want to pay moronic management charges and get unexpected bills. The maintenance costs are shared between us, the flat below and the owner of the shop below - who owns the freehold.

If it wasn't fur us, the communal areas would go to wreck n ruin. We are the ones who instigated decorating and upkeep. All we pay is ground rent... thankfully at £140 p/a.

My gripe is that the freeholder is taking weeks to tick a few boxes on a couple of sheets of paper and wants and extortionate amount for doing so. I'll be glad to see the back of him when this is over.

We are buying a house and will be the freeholders so no more ground rent and dependence on incompetent fools.

[nitrodave]

The problem is not with us, it's with the freeholder. He has been paid within hours of telling us how much he wanted and still nothing back from him.

In the last year we had a leak from the roof. After much hassling we got a response from the freeholder stating the issue and that £1500 work needs doing. We paid it and spent months chasing him for his share of this. The other flat owner below us paid the moment we asked.

We had the communal hallway decorated and it was just the same. Weeks of hassling until we got any response and agreement from him. We got several quotes, went with the best, got the work done and paid for it ourselves. We are the ones who chased the freeholder for his share of the cost.

If our sale falls through because of him, I will seek legal advice on the matter.

[nitrodave]

snorky782 said:

You can seek legal advice, but it should be that you don't have a case against him. Did you specify a deadline in your questions?

That's where there is a massive flaw in the system. Freeholding needs regulating, and individuals with such responsibilities should have rules and ethics to abide to. Thankfully our buyer of the flat and the sellers of the house are being pretty understanding.

I am leaving it to my solicitor to chase him now as I have had enough of trying. Any decent person would just do this rather face being hassled every day.

[nitrodave]

Whilst we own a third of the block through a share of freehold, legally, as it is a flat, it is required to be under leasehold status and we must pay ground rent.

By having a share of freehold we aren't held to ransom by a management company who want monthly charges for it's upkeep. Between us we share that responsibility, which has been more cost effective to live in and makes the property appealing when it came to sell.

We pay for what needs doing, not pay a management company just in case something needs doing. We also remove the risk of being ripped off like so many others are as we are in control of the expenditure of upkeep.

We get to choose who does maintenance work and who cleans the communal areas.

Only now, we are being ripped off at the time of sale.

[nitrodave]

megaphone said:

So if you own a share of the freehold, why can't you fill out the form? Who is the 'freeholder' you are asking to fill it out? Surely they are just a joint freeholder as well?

Just inquisitive how all this works.

Having a share of freehold means any maintenance and upkeep is decided amongst us and the cost shared, rather than pay a management company and not be able to see how and when our money is spent.

Legally all flats must be under a leasehold status. In our case the land freeholder still collects ground rent. The forms he has to fill out for our sale basically amount to him ticking a box to say we are not in arrears with ground rent.

Having been a leaseholder paying a lot of service charges and shared freeholder who only pays out when something needs doing, I can tell you the latter is far better. I get to choose who does work and only pay when work is done. I am only required to be reactive to things when they are needed and not pay monthly charges and see nothing for that money.

Some more info can be read up on here: http://www.in-deed.net/share-freehold-conveyancing

[nitrodave]

It sounds confusing, I know, but it is a share of freehold so we jointly own the building, but not the land.