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Coppen Estates. . . .Sheffield

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Strange that all these people seem to have problems with Coppen. They own the freehold on my house & although my solicitor sent them notice of the transfer of the lease when I bought the house (2years ago) they have never once been in touch. Not even to acknowledge the sale of the house, never mind ask for the £1.50 (75p payable twice a year!) ground rent or demand any "fees".

 

The previous owner said she had the same issue for the 5 years she had the house & that the owner of the end house paid for the block of 4 every year. She had to pay for indemnity insurance as she had no proof that the ground rent was paid up, which she cannot now get returned to her as Coppen have still not replied to any correspondence!

 

I dread the day I decide to buy the freehold, I can imagine the problems that will ensue.

1. It sounds likely that the ground rent is payable by the end house demised by the same lease.

2. Surely the previous owner could have asked the owner of the end house to get a receipt?

3. Why dread the day [you] decide to buy the freehold? If you've owned the leasehold for at least two years, get on with it!

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Well, that was up to the previous owner to sort out. I'm not so fussed if they get their money back :)

 

Cost would be why I'm dragging my heels somewhat in buying the freehold. I'm still busy working on the house and I'm saving up to purchase it in another couple of years. It has over 800 years left on it so I'm not really in a rush. And dreading it due to the experiences of others in dealing with Coppen.

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EDIT - issue was resolved with neighbours today....

Edited by iwbsheff
clarification

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This is a great thread. Thanks Jeffrey for the insight into Coppen. I'm buying a house for which they are the FR. In the paperwork we have seen, the current occupier has paid a significant amount (£hundreds) of charges for missed payments and insurance clause infringements. Our solicitor is still chasing to ensure all permissions were in place for the extension.

A couple of questions:

There appears to be an annual £45 insurance approval charge. If we provide notice of insurance cover in the right time and format can he charge the £45 fee? (ie is he just not mentioning that for his own benefit)

Is there any point in asking him about buyout before we have been there 2 years? It's >800yrs on lease and £6 P/A ground rent so I figure that it's not that valuable and most of the cost will be what he knows we will pay to avoid the more expensive LVT process.

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There appears to be an annual £45 insurance approval charge. If we provide notice of insurance cover in the right time and format can he charge the £45 fee? (ie is he just not mentioning that for his own benefit)

Is there any point in asking him about buyout before we have been there 2 years? It's >800yrs on lease and £6 P/A ground rent so I figure that it's not that valuable and most of the cost will be what he knows we will pay to avoid the more expensive LVT process.

1. Insurance: no, use of a s.164 Notice (opt-out from insurance covenant) costs nothing. Coppen has no right to charge for this.

2. Early enfranchisement: again, no. Coppen rarely sells unless it has to sell.

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Thanks Jeffrey, I wish my actual conveyancer could answer questions as clearly. He thought it was a grey area and I might as well pay it to keep Coppen off my back.

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Thanks Jeffrey, I wish my actual conveyancer could answer questions as clearly. He thought it was a grey area and I might as well pay it to keep Coppen off my back.

Many perfectly competent solicitors skilled in 'routine' conveyancing lack the specialist knowledge required for leasehold conveyancing.

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Many perfectly competent solicitors skilled in 'routine' conveyancing lack the specialist knowledge required for leasehold conveyancing.

 

This isn't very commonly known - I don't remember any advice sites mentioning anything other than 'expect to pay extra as there is more paperwork'. I explicitly mentioned that we were buying leasehold when I sought quotes. I went with a local firm - would expect Sheffield conveyancers to have more knowledge than most.

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My conveyancer was similar...I researched the s164 notice having read advice from Jeffrey on here and they said "well, you can try it, it might work"

 

You can read about the saga up thread. Counting down to issuing my notice of claim...13 months to go!

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This is a great thread, already gained some knowledge but looking for a bit more advice, as we are looking to buy the freehold to our house, which is currently held by Coppen Estates. We have a disabled son and want to ensure that should anything happen to us in the future, we have things in place to make it easier for him to sell the house to pay for any care needed when we can not be there for him.

 

We have owned the house and lease for 4 years now and pay an annual ground rent of £35, the lease was originally for 99 years and we now have 66 years left. Buying the freehold would obviously make any selling easier in the future, and mean he doesn't have to arrange for the lease to be extended, but I am concerned that the cost of buying the freehold may be out of our reach. From what I can gather on the Internet the magic number is 80 years anything less than this left of the lease and the costs increase considerably, just wondering if anyone could give me an idea of the cost of buying the freehold with us only having 66 years left, and the likely legal fees, I'm aware I have to pay the freeholders 'reasonable' valuation and legal fees too...any help would be appreciated...

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