Freehold Flats
ARTICLES AND FAQS
Some of the things people ask and problems they have, with our comments and answers.
A lot of people think of freehold property as better than leasehold, and so assume that freehold flats must be better. This isn't normally the case.
This page is about flats that have separate freehold titles for each flat. Such flats are quite rare, but do exist.
There are situations with flats and freeholds that are acceptable such as ordinary Shared Freehold explained on our Shared Freehold Flats page and where there are Crossover Leases. Also, if you own the freehold of the whole building and there are other flats with leases this is generally acceptable. This is explained further on the Freehold of building subject to leases of other flats page.
Flats, by definition, have other flats or parts of a building used in other ways, above or below them. The continued maintenance of those flats and any parts of the building which are used in common is vital. English law does not oblige a freehold property owner to comply with positive covenants (e.g. to maintain the structure of his flat or pay someone else to do so) just because they benefit a neighbouring property - for instance a flat above or below.
For such covenants to be enforced in practice, all the flat owners in a block would need to sign a deed of covenant every time a flat changes hands. This is just not practicable, as other flat owners may not be contactable, or may simply refuse to sign. People do not want to be reliant on others in this way when they buy a flat.
The result is that lenders will not lend on these "pure" freehold flats. There are very limited exceptions. The Royal Bank Group will do so (but may set conditions, which possibly could not be complied with in a particular case), and a few lenders make an exception for such properties in the Scarborough area Outside that area such flats are difficult to sell and will normally only attract cash buyers at a price significantly below that of a similar leasehold flat.
Copyright: Richard Webster & Co 2010
Richard Webster & Co 30 Leigh Road Eastleigh Hampshire SO50 9DT
Freehold Flat Conveyancing Problems.
Page Last Revised 15/02/11