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Find a rated tradesman
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Buy of the week: Camden Town
This two-bedroom flat has a pretty park on its doorstep, while buzzing Camden Town is only 10 minutes’ walk away. Big sash windows and high ceilings give a spacious feel and there’s a private garden with a studio/home office (£525,000).
Swap of the week: Willersey, Glouc
This little Cotswolds beauty is just across the road from the village green and duck pond. For £530,000 you get beams, exposed stone walls and an open fireplace, plus four bedrooms, a useful attic room and lush gardens to enjoy.
Life-changer: Trescowe, Cornwall
For a project brimming with potential, what about this coastal home, yours for £545,000? The family space includes six bedrooms, while its collection of outbuildings overlooking an acre of gardens could become income-generating holiday lets.
Spotlight on Camden Town
The shops and markets clustered around the high street and canal make Camden one of the most colourful of London's neighbourhoods. The area's period homes and loft-style apartments attract a mix of homebuyers.
Property search
Should I pay this blast from the past?
Our lawyer, Fiona McNulty, explains why a lessor's solictors need to be advised about a remortgage even when residents have bought the freehold for the property
© Merrily Harpur
I recently remortgaged the flat and now I have been told that the lease has a clause in it that requires me to notify the lessor’s solicitors about the remortgage and to pay a fee for the privilege.
Is this necessary now that I am a member of the freehold company?
Answer: This situation is actually one of the most efficient ways to deal with the management of a block of flats. It is often described by estate agents as “shared freehold”. Flat-owners often think of themselves as “owning” the freehold.
However, technically this is not the case. This is because the company has a separate legal personality from its members (the flat-owners) and it is the company that owns the freehold. This means that, when a flat-owner sells a flat, the freehold ownership is not affected, but the new owner then becomes a member of the company.
This saves the necessity for any conveyancing on the freehold title, when the flats are bought and sold. Details of changes of ownership and mortgages do need to be kept by the company and the company often has its own solicitors - hence the continuing requirement to notify those solicitors and pay their administration fee.
What's your problem?
If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk. We regret that questions cannot be answered individually.
Fiona is a partner in the property team at Thring Townsend Lee & Pembertons Solicitors www.ttuk.com.
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