PROPERTY LAW
PART SHARE
I AM unable to sell my 12.5 per cent share of a shared-ownership property because no-one is interested in purchasing anything less than 50 per cent. Reluctantly I am considering applying for a mortgage to increase my share, but I am worried what action could be taken by the landlord or lender if I failed repayments? I’M assuming you bought your share from (and pay rent to) a housing association. Have you approached them to buy back your share? Very often they will have first refusal in any case. You will need to follow the protocol of the housing association which can be complicated but a solicitor would be able to assist. If you fail to pay your rent then the owner can issue possession proceedings and (in the worst scenario) you could lose everything. If you took out a mortgage to increase your share and failed to keep up repayments the bank could also seek possession but you would be entitled to what was left after the property was sold.
DRAIN BLAME
SOME years ago I bought a flat which five years previously had been converted from a shop into two residential dwellings. The other flat was bought by my neighbour at about the same time. We have just discovered that waste from my bathroom passes through his property via a concealed manhole on the ground floor. I am at a loss how to proceed. Do we have any legal redress against the builders? IF your flat is above your neighbour’s this will not necessarily be an unusual situation, but it should be addressed in your leases. Check that they allow services to run through each other’s property, and that they contain mutual repairing obligations. Whoever carried out the conveyancing work when you bought the flats should have reported these specific terms to you. It’s unlikely that you would have a claim against the builders since you didn’t buy the property from them.
FREEHOLD PURCHASE
I WANT to buy the freehold to my house. My understanding is that after five years of paying ground rent the landowner is legally bound to sell me the freehold for a maximum of ten years’ ground rent. Is this true? TO qualify you must be a leaseholder at the time of the application and to have held the lease for the last two years. The price is subject to negotiation and you may need to obtain the services of a qualified surveyor. If the price cannot be agreed or the landlord refuses then you may need to refer the matter to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The procedure is complicated and costly, but again, a solicitor would be able to assist.
EXPECTING VISITORS
WE would like to know how we would stand if someone was bitten by our dogs after climbing into a fenced area where there’s no gate? IT would depend on the height of the fence and on whether you could reasonably have anticipated that people might want to climb over it: if you have an apple tree close to the fence, for instance, it could be argued that you should have foreseen that children might be tempted on to your property. If people have regularly crossed the area to reach the pub and you have fenced it off to prevent them doing so you might expect them to attempt to continue to use the short cut, and so could be held responsible if they were bitten. If in doubt put up warning signs and keep the dogs on a chain.
»»Call Bromleys Solicitors LLP on 0161 330 6821 or visit www.bromleys. co.uk If you have any legal questions, write to Property Law, MEN Media, Mitchell Henry House, Hollinwood Avenue, Chadderton OL9 8EF, or email mail@ lawQs.co.uk