Along with most of my neighbours, my home is a leasehold

recently I received a letter from Blair Estates Ltd offering to convert the lease to a freehold

so I contacted the people I pay ground rent to (Shenstone Properties) so that I could check who currently held the freehold and if Blair Estates actually had the authority to make this offer

it turns out that the people I pay ground rent to own the freehold and they've had several people ask the same question, Shenstone don't know who Blair Estates are but they will look into this and get back to me when they know whats going on

so I would say it's highly likely to be a scam, if you get one of these letters, do not part with any money until you check who actually owns your freehold

Both these are limited companies have been in existence for 25 years or so and are registered at the same address

6 WELL STREET
LONDON
E9 7PX

They appear to be property companies

I would guess they will charge you a lot of money to do something you could do yourself if you had a mind to.

Here's some info about buying the freehold:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/leaseholders_rights/buying_the_freehold

but according to shenstone, these companies don't have the freehold or the authority to sell it as it belongs to shenstone and shenstone know nothing about either company, or at least the people I talked to at shenstone know nothing about either company

but according to shenstone, these companies don't have the freehold or the authority to sell it as it belongs to shenstone and shenstone know nothing about either company, or at least the people I talked to at shenstone know nothing about either company

I would guess that they will be trying to put themselves in as middle men who, for a fee, will handle all the negotiations, valuations and other paperwork between you and the freeholder.

If you suspect that they are trying to commit some sort of fraud rather than drum up business then you should contact trading standards or the police.

I thought I'd warn any neighbours first, the thing is the price they want is extremely low, I was expecting something like three or four times the amount they want for the land

it may yet turn out to be genuine, the people I talked to said to wait for the MD to get back as he may know more than they did, but if it is a scam I didn't want anyone falling for it without making at least some effort at warning them

hmmm I wonder are there any on line tools to check land registry

done some more digging and according to the government land registry website the freehold is not held by Shenstone so they don't know what they are talking about, the letter does mention Blair Estates are agents for the company stated as the owners in the land registry document, so it's looking less and less like a scam, if the figures are right I may just go through with this

thanks for your help so far andyofborg

Companies can be registered and then parked for a small fee, so age is no guarantee of legitimacy. Its also possible to buy old companies and re-use company names (not sure how companies house shows this on the webcheck). For a couple of quid you can get various returns from companies house, this would give a better insight into the company.

I think you done the best thing checking with the people who you currently pay your ground rent to as there are lots of chancer out there selling you something that you can do yourself with a little effort.

i believe you should receive a notice every year stating the amount you should pay and when it should be paid and that should include the name of the landlord.

the standard format is given towards the bottom of here:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/20043096.htm

Hi

I have just come across this forum and would like to share with you my comments. I work at Blair Estates Ltd and can confirm that we are a genuine property company who have been managing property for 25 years. In Nov 2006 Ironhawk Ltd purchased the freehold interest from the Sheffield City Council, and we have been appointed by Ironhawk Ltd as their managing agents. For your information BELLWAY (NORTH LONDON) LIMITED have a lease with Ironhawk for a term of 125 years from 18.6.1993 and the individual under leases are between the residents at Kirksteak Gardens and Bellway Ltd. All this information can be obtained with the land registry and dont quite understand why this was looked at as a scam. Also please note that we have in fact sold a couple of the freeholds.

Shenstone Properties act for Bellway (North London) Ltd and are now aware that we act on behalf of the freeholders Ironhawk Ltd.

I have just come across this forum and would like to share with you my comments. I work at Blair Estates Ltd and can confirm that we are a genuine property company who have been managing property for 25 years. In Nov 2006 Ironhawk Ltd purchased the freehold interest from the Sheffield City Council, and we have been appointed by Ironhawk Ltd as their managing agents. For your information BELLWAY (NORTH LONDON) LIMITED have a lease with Ironhawk for a term of 125 years from 18.6.1993 and the individual under leases are between the residents at Kirksteak Gardens and Bellway Ltd. All this information can be obtained with the land registry and dont quite understand why this was looked at as a scam. Also please note that we have in fact sold a couple of the freeholds.

Shenstone Properties act for Bellway (North London) Ltd and are now aware that we act on behalf of the freeholders Ironhawk Ltd.[/QUOTE]

Along with most of my neighbours, my home is a leasehold

recently I received a letter from Blair Estates Ltd offering to convert the lease to a freehold

so I contacted the people I pay ground rent to (Shenstone Properties) so that I could check who currently held the freehold and if Blair Estates actually had the authority to make this offer

it turns out that the people I pay ground rent to own the freehold and they've had several people ask the same question, Shenstone don't know who Blair Estates are but they will look into this and get back to me when they know whats going on

so I would say it's highly likely to be a scam, if you get one of these letters, do not part with any money until you check who actually owns your freehold

I have just come across this forum and would like to share with you my comments. I work at Blair Estates Ltd and can confirm that we are a genuine property company who have been managing property for 25 years. In Nov 2006 Ironhawk Ltd purchased the freehold interest from the Sheffield City Council, and we have been appointed by Ironhawk Ltd as their managing agents. For your information BELLWAY (NORTH LONDON) LIMITED have a lease with Ironhawk for a term of 125 years from 18.6.1993 and the individual under leases are between the residents at Kirksteak Gardens and Bellway Ltd. All this information can be obtained with the land registry and dont quite understand why this was looked at as a scam. Also please note that we have in fact sold a couple of the freeholds.

Shenstone Properties act for Bellway (North London) Ltd and are now aware that we act on behalf of the freeholders Ironhawk Ltd.[/QUOTE]