Trying to buy a property where the title deeds need to be split?
11:13 AM, 18th February 2016, 10 years ago
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We are looking at buying a property with a flat that is completely separate with a view to living in the main house ourselves and letting out the flat.
However at the moment the property only has one title, but is on the land registry as two flats. The seller has agreed to split the title deed if we pay half of the cost.
Now our solicitor is saying the flat will need a lease created too? Has anyone else bought a property with similar issues and how did you solve them?
Many thanks
Jane
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Member Since February 2011 - Comments: 3453 - Articles: 286
11:19 AM, 18th February 2016, About 10 years ago
As one of the properties you are buying is going to be your main residence I have not run across this before personally, but it would make sense to me to have a separate lease on the flat as well.
Are you purchasing with a mortgage as it will also depend on what the lender is happy with?
Member Since January 2016 - Comments: 473
3:00 PM, 18th February 2016, About 10 years ago
Slightly tangential but if the property is legally one property, not 2 flats then your ‘tenants’ would be lodgers not tenants and the first (from Apr 2016) £7500 of rent would be tax free. Worth considering.
Member Since February 2016 - Comments: 4
3:52 PM, 18th February 2016, About 10 years ago
Hi thank you for your comments.
Yes we will be purchasing with a mortgage. We have been told the title has to be split for mortgage purchases?
Being first timers at this we know nothing about leases. Is it easy to manage a lease? One of the questions the solicitor asked was how were we planning to manage a lease?
Member Since July 2013 - Comments: 1266 - Articles: 1
8:13 PM, 18th February 2016, About 10 years ago
You need a specialist solicitor and it sounds as though yours isn’t. It’s not difficult, a lease is drawn up and the title separated with the main title to include the house and freehold to the flat. I have exactly that situation. Whereabouts are you?
If you do go down this route there is a lot of legal tape to consider
If you are buying both though why do you need a lease? Maybe you just need to find the right lender, it’s slightly non-standard but a good broker should help you find one
Member Since February 2016 - Comments: 4
8:29 PM, 18th February 2016, About 10 years ago
I don’t know why we need a lease either. We have been told by two financial advisors that to get a mortgage on the property we would have to ask the vendor to agree to split the title. Our offer was accepted by the vendor with the estate agent informing us that this could be arranged. The latest correspondence from our solicitor isn’t encouraging as none if this has been relayed to the vendors solicitor.
You said that you have the same situation. Are you able to share how you are getting around these obstacles and the time scales involved?
Member Since July 2013 - Comments: 1266 - Articles: 1
8:31 PM, 18th February 2016, About 10 years ago
In my case a lease was created for the flat but it was already owned.
You didn’t say whereabouts you are (approximately)
Member Since February 2016 - Comments: 4
8:34 PM, 18th February 2016, About 10 years ago
Thank you for your quick response.
We are in the South of England. Have you had experience of title deeds needing to be split during the buying of a property?
Member Since July 2013 - Comments: 1266 - Articles: 1
8:38 PM, 18th February 2016, About 10 years ago
Me too. It’s not exactly the same but I will see what I can find out.
If you wish you can email me on [email protected] as this could be quite involved
Member Since December 2013 - Comments: 53
2:05 PM, 20th February 2016, About 10 years ago
Hello Jane. For letting purposes I`m always looking for houses as two flats, and this sounds like one near me (Bournemouth?) I came across but it was way too expensive for 2 BTL flats. If it`s the one I`m thinking of, even for a home and annexe I thought it was over the top (even with £20K off) with all the problems it has. Splitting a title is straightforward but something you only need do if you`re considering selling the flat on it`s own, but in this case you only need a residential lender who`d accept it`s non-standard layout. Are you aware of all the pitfalls with it? They`re not insurmountable but it would be very expensive. I`d gladly go into them if it might help you.
Member Since February 2016 - Comments: 4
4:31 PM, 20th February 2016, About 10 years ago
Hello Gary
It is the lender issue that is causing the problem. Have you had any experience of lenders who are sympathetic to this issue? Ideally we would prefer to buy the property on one repayment mortgage as we also want to let the flat to a family member.
Thank you for taking an interest.