Buying freehold of flat

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I own the leasehold on a flat which is one of 6 in a block. Freeholder wants to sell the freehold for about £10,000 among all of the leaseholders.

Seems like a no-brainer to me to buy it.

4 of the 6 leasehold owners want to buy the freehold. The other two have not objected, but I haven't been able to find them either.

One flats whose owner wants to buy the freehold, is shared-ownership (ie local housing authority is also a part-owner).

What do I need to know?

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There is a bit over 100 years left on the lease. The £10k is total for all six flats, not each.

I got a Section 5 notice. My understanding is there only needs to be a majority?

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Breadvan72 said:

The usual mechanism is to form a limited company, have it buy the freehold, and allocate shares to the leaseholders, with an agreement to transfer the shares on sale of the leasehold. In your case those buying could stipulate that the other leaseholders can at a later date subscribe for shares but on payment of the appropriate price.

OK thanks. Due to being away, I read the offer letter late. The offer expires in 2 weeks. What do I need to do now?

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Breadvan72 said:

Sounds bargalicious. Split cost four ways. The other two can buy into the freehold company later if they like.

Mine is the biggest and most expensive flat. Even if I had to pay the entire £10k myself I think I still would feel it's a reasonable deal.

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Is the shared ownership (with local housing authority) of one of the owners a problem?

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The limited company which is formed: who would be the directors?

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OK, expiration of the offer is fast approaching and I have a majority of the owners who want to accept it.

What needs to be done to accept it?

Can I write to the freeholder on behalf of all the owners and pay the 10% deposit and that is it? Or do a majority of owners need to write in themselves?

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OK, need advice in a hurry:

This the the freehold purchase. I have letters from a majority of owners stating they want to purchase the freehold. We have the deposit.

Do I just write a letter to the freeholder on behalf of myself and the other owners with a cheque for the deposit? Do I need a solicitor to do it?

I've found out the freeholder is acting through an agent who can't give me any advice whatsoever on how to accept or pay; all I have is the name and address of the freeholder.

Obv us owners are going to get a solicitor to help with the purchase, I just didn't expect we might need one just to pay the deposit so we don't have one organised yet.

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I've received an email from the Freeholder saying they don't want to sell it and withdrawing the offer.

Can they withdraw the offer?

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I'll have a read. Can you think of a reason why a freeholder would withdraw an offer?

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The leaseholders (my neighbours) are cheesed off about the freeholder withdrawing the sale. They want me to do the thing where a majority of leaseholders get together and have a right to purchase the freehold, regardless of the freeholders wishes. I'll get onto it once I'm not so busy at work.

I have a more immediate problem though.

I inadvertently paid my ground rent late. The freeholder has slapped me with a £60 late payment charge. This has irritated me more than it normally would have as:
- the freeholder did not write to the leaseholders advising that they had decided to pull out
- the freeholder still has not returned the 10% purchase price deposit, which is now almost 5 months after they withdrew the offer
- I feel that the leaseholder never intended to follow through with the sale and only offered it as a hedge bet against unfavourable changes in the law. The changes were announced the day before they withdrew the offer (via a rather terse email to myself only).

I'd like to send the leaseholder an invoice for additional charges for late repayment of our deposit. Something along these lines:
https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-intere...

This would be either £40 or £70 depending on if you consider the payment as a single lump for the whole amount (>£999.00) or equally split between leaseholders. Plus interest. Can I do this?

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^ I'm wondering if we are all annoying enough, the freeholder will just sell the freehold to get rid of us, esp if they will incur higher expenses to keep it. Sending them an invoice including a late payment fee and interest would, I imagine, get the annoying ball rolling.