Garage Freehold/Leasehold

[Tangomann]

An interesting scenario for some advise please:

 

Completed on a property end Jan 2016. At the bottom of the property is a garage which was within our boundary and part of the premises on the land registry search. The property was being sold as leasehold. When coming up to completion our solicitor told us that the garage was not being sold as part of the property as the seller had already promised it/sold it to the neighbour. The seller had done this without completing any of the required legal paperwork with the land registry.

 

At completion we were told that as a condition for the sale to complete, the whole property would be transferred to us and we would then have to sell the garage back to the seller for a token 1 pound.

Not overly happy with that but we really wanted the house and got a good price.

The garage itself is in poor repair, but it is the land it sits on that we want.

 

From what I understand, the leasehold has now been split into the garage and the property/garden.

As we didn't own the land with the property being leasehold, we bought the freehold so that we now own the land, including the garage.

 

Any ideas of our legal position now?

 

* Are we responsible for the upkeep of the garage?

* Do we charge ground rent?

* Can we give notice to cancel their lease and take back the land?

* Can we object to any improvement/change to the garage?

 

Many thanks to all

Edited June 9, 2016 by honeybee13
Paras.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I expect the forum guys will be along later with advice for you, but I have to say I'm surprised your solicitor hasn't explained this to you.

 

HB

[andydd]

An odd one.

 

The answers though would surely be in the lease ?. I would of thought that a new lease between you as FH and the garage owner/tenant/leaseholder has/will need to be created and this will show the terms, etc.

 

New leases are created for new flats or old houses converted into flats, these show the current FH and LH and as the property is assigned to different Fh and LH over the years the leases stays the same.

 

I dont know the process of how a new leases is created Im afraid, its also worth noting that a lot of the legislation (mainly protecting LHs) doesnt apply to garages only to properties where people live.

[ericsbrother]

you say it is a leasehold and then finish off by saying it is freehold. The question is who owns the land the garage sits on? The garage may well be yours but as part of the overall lease if anything was put in writing. Was it written into the purchase contract that the vendor was keeping a leasehold contract on the garage. No contract then it is yours to do whatever your want but if the person who thinks they bought it has had use of it for a number of years then they may continue to do so under rights of access. If there is no covenant then you can ignore the vendor's wishes because they have no claim on anything any more, just the possibility that the person next door has some rights.

[ericsbrother]

other thing you can do is put a bloody great boundary fence on the botton of your land that allows someone to squeeze through on their own but no possibility of getting a car in and out. Any right of access/use will be limited to a person, not a vehicle.

You should have dealt with this at the time of purchase so you may have to speak to your conveyancer to get an explanation of the other parties rights, if they have any.

[Tangomann]

Hi Ericsbrother,

 

Thanks for the reply, when we completed the sale the property was leasehold. The garage was transferred back to the vendor using the Land Registry form TP1. As we weren't overly happy at not getting the garage, it was the land it sits on that was more important, so we purchased the freehold for all the land including the area where the garage is. This was done after the sale had been completed and the freeholder took care of all the legal paperwork.

As the new freeholder, when the garage is transferred/sold to the neighbour do we have to be notified and can we object to the sale?

[ericsbrother]

you didnt buy the garage land by the looks of it as you sold that right via the TP1 unless there had been a sale to the neighbour and that interest was bought back before selling you the freehold of the entire plot.

Speak to your conveyancer and ask them what they got you to sign as you dont understand it.

It could be you own the freehold of a leased garage but you dont have a copy of the lease. Ask your vendor or check with the land registry. If there is no mention of a ground rent you may have to go to the leashold valuations tribunal and that will not yield you result you want.