Buying freehold from council ? Any experience ? Post Reply

[FrenchMummyInLondon]

Hi NappyValley Mums and Dads,

I was wondering if any of you had bought or had a quote for buying the freehold of your property from the council?

To explain our situation: we own the leasehold of our flat but the council is the freeholder. There is lot of work to do to the communal parts (roof, windows…) but the management by the council is not great (very very slow, not up to our standard…) - no fault from the person in charge but just general "administration" slowness and admistrative rules…
Our property is in a converted Victorian terrace so only 1 other flat. But despite this, everything is very complicated when going via the council (lots of different contacts, paperwork...)
I therefore was considering the purchase of the freehold (if the other neighbour agree).
The council was unable to advice us on the price - they need to send a valuator to do this.
But to start the discussion with our downstairs neighbour, I would like an idea of the price of the freehold.

Has anyone done this? Any ball park cost?

Many thanks!

[supergirl]

Hi there

I am surprised at your comment saying it is all very slow with the council to buy the freehold. They want to get rid of (whenever it is possible ie. not council estate) their freehold. This is why you find that they are doing the bare minimum or not at all regarding maintenance works.

I would definitively recommend to buy the freehold with the owners of the other flat. You need to be more than 50% of the people living in the building to do so (which obviously you are) and you have the right to buy when you have been there for a minimum of 2yrs.
You need to set up a company with the other people, that way it is transparent and clear. Because you or the others will sell or rent the flat at some point it makes things more straighforwards like who is paying what, what works are to be done and so on. There are a lot of infos on the web.

If for any reasons you cant or dont want to buy the freehold, you have the right to set up your own management company it is called "the right to manage". That way you are the one in charge of the building insurance and the maintenance of the property. You dont own the freehold but you manage... Again, you should/need to set up a company with the other people.

One thing you need to know is the law is in the favour of whoever wants to buy the freehold. The council needs to send a valuor to estimate the purchase of the freehold and therefore to give you a quote. But as I said earlier they want to get rid of them so their quote should be (speaking from experience) good value. If for any reasons it was not, there is a tribunal where you can go to (cant remember the name on top of my head) and they usually rule in the favour of the people who wants to buy it. But again, I would be very surprised if you had to go down that route when dealing with the council.

PM me if you have more question. We were in your situation.

Good luck

[Russellhunt]

Hi,

I represent clients in London who are buying and deal with property issues all the time including lease extensions etc.

I would get your own valuation by a surveyor with good local knowledge, you can get this through a savvy local agent or contact me if you need any advice and split the cost with the other flat. You need this as a bargaining tool with the council who obviously don't have a clue about the value and will rely on thier own surveyor. Negotiate on the price i.e. taking on the communal responsibilities and the cost of that etc.

I hope this helps

Kind regards

Russell Hunt
Property Hunt
rhunt@property-hunt.co.uk

[FrenchMummyInLondon]

Many thanks both for your feedback.

Super girl - I did not say that they were slow to sell the freehold but that they are slow to make ANY repair to the house
Confirming what you say about wantting to get rid of it...

I will talk with my neighbour then to see if we can start the process...

Many thanks!

[Liza-Jane Kelly]

Hi there,

We recently wrote an article which might answer a few of your questions.

(page 15) http://edition.pagesuite-professional.c ... adc2&skip=

Your first port of call should be a professional valuation - in our experience, it shouldn’t be too expensive to buy the freehold as it is a Local Authority lease, which still has quite a long term remaining.

If we can help any more, please feel free to get in touch.

Liza-Jane