Having enfranchised flats, can I enfranchise garage?

[catwoman100]

Hope somebody will be able to help me

I own a flat in a block of 2 and we have recently completed the purchase of the Freehold which has taken 4 years! It was an absentee Landlord situation and he has never been found and the money was paid into the Court.
In the back garden there are 2 garages, one belongs to my flat and the other has obviously been sold off in the past to the house at the back of the flats. As the owner of the garage did not want to get involved in the purchasing of the Freehold the LVT stipulated that this area be excluded from the Freehold purchase. However just after completion of the Feehold purchase I have now bought the garage and lease which has 74 years left to run.
Am I now entitled to buy the Freehold of the garage ? If so can I buy it in my own right or do I have to buy it through the Company that we set up to buy the original Freehold. The original Solicitor has quoted £800 to do this further work but another Solicitor has told me informally that He did not think I have the right to buy.
Any help would be much appreciated.

[jeffrey]

1. So you + other flat's lessee (X) own freehold reversion to your flat, your original garage g1, and X's flat. That f/r excludes the other garage g2 of which you've just - separately- bought the leasehold. Is this analysis correct?
2. If so, no- as g2 lessee, you have no enfranchisement rights for g2.
3. It would have been a better idea for the rear house lessee to enfranchise (his house + g2) before selling g2 to you.
4. You could still offer to buy g2 from the party who, I imagine, retained it when selling the rest of the f/r to you + X.

[catwoman100]

Thanks, yes your analysis 1 is correct. So I understand from point 2 I have no enfranchisement rights
Sorry not sure I understand point 4, the house at the back is nothing to do with the flats and is Freehold. I think at some point thay had just bought g2. I have already purchased g2 and as the Freeholder cannot be traced who do I offer to buy the Freehold from? It was the LVT that made us omit g2 from the original enfranchisement. Is there a way of paying money into Court in the same way as we have done for the flats.
Thanks very much for your help

[jeffrey]

You have bought the leasehold of g2. Someone must be the freehold reversioner; I assume that it must be whoever owns flats' f/r (+g1's f/r) which were sold by Court Order to you + X.

As I posted, a garage's lessee has NO compulsory enfranchisement powers. You'll have to wait until g2's f/r becomes registered at HMLR (if it ever is). In the interim, you could register a Caution against First Registration (cost £40) so that HMLR will then notify you - as g2 lessee-of its f/r registration.

[catwoman100]

Ok that has now clarified the situation for me, thank you.
I have no right of enfranchisement and unless I can actually contact the Freeholder to make an offer for the Freehold there is nothing I can do.
I have now requested the original file from the Solicitors but from memory the Freeholder for the flats and the garages was the original builder, a ltd company. The company is no longer registered and although the son of the builder was found he could not prove ownership of the Freehold as all the records were destroyed in a fire. In view of the small amount of money involved he was not prepared to undertake any further investigation.
So I suppose my last question is, is there a simple and cheap way to prove that he owns the Freehold so that I may then buy it off him?
Thanks once again for all your help

[jeffrey]

is there a simple and cheap way to prove that he owns the Freehold so that I may then buy it off him?

No. Title deeds would have been the best way. Failing that, builder would have to reconstruct evidence from secondary sources plus Statutory Declaration (all, presumably, at your cost as it's for your benefit!)