Who should I contact if I want to buy the freehold of my flat? Johan (surname withheld)
A If you wish to acquire the freehold of a flat then the best place to start is with the freeholder of the building containing it. However, a flat held as an individual freehold – the ‘flying freehold’- is rare, and something of a taboo among mortgage lenders. That is why the convention has developed to grant leases on flats as opposed to the outright freehold. Commonhold is meant to address this, resulting in viable freehold flats.
Care must be exercised, and it must be confirmed it is the freehold of the individual flat that is the goal. Most leaseholders combine together and acquire the freehold of the building containing their flats, rather than pursuing the freehold of each individual flat.
Anthony Essien, Principal Legal Adviser of The Lease Advisory Service
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