We have recently purchased a property at auction that had been repossessed. It is a converted barn on a development with 9 others. In the legal pack, there was reference to a dispute between the freeholder of the shared land (shared areas, approach road to property, roads around properties, parking spaces etc) and the owner. The approach road to the properties was resurfaced at a cost of £71k, with this cost to be split equally amongst the 10 property owners. The previous owner of the property I bought had allegedly not paid his or her share. Before the property went to auction, they had an offered accepted via an estate agent. However apparently the freeholder was able to block the sale via the management company (who now manage the shared areas etc on behalf of the freeholder), due to the outstanding debt of £7,100.
Despite several requests from the company on behalf of the mortgage company, the only evidence supplied was a very dodgy looking invoice made out to a limited company that doesnt appear to exist, or at least isnt registed at companies house. No evidence of correspondence between the freeholder of the land and the previous owner was provided, nor any evidence of actual payment for the work.
I have been to visit the property, and the work has definitely been done. Its quite a nice job actually
However, there are certainly some fishy parts to the story.
We have nearly finished a small refurbishment on the property and will be marketing it for sale soon. I do not want the freeholder to be able to block the sale, so I want to settle the debt. I did consider trying to contest the value, however, it hardly seems worth the effort. I have contacted the solicitor named in the legal pack, and I have not received a reply. After doing a bit of google searching, it seems this solicitor firm has closed down.... in fairly acrimonious circumstances. I have tried contacting the management company to see if they can help, but as the debt is not owed to them, they have not been that helpful. They have tried to get in touch with the freeholder, as they cannot give me his details, but still have not got in touch with him.
Does anyone have any advice as I am really at a loss how to proceed? I do have the bank details and invoice relating to the debt, however I am reluctant to pay it without some confirmation from the freeholder that the matter is closed and he will not unreasonably block the sale. Maybe the management company will get in touch with him soon. What I dont want to happen is to be have a sale agreed, then suddenly this £7,100 debt becomes a £10,000 debt or some other arbitrary number!
Thanks in advance for your help
Despite several requests from the company on behalf of the mortgage company, the only evidence supplied was a very dodgy looking invoice made out to a limited company that doesnt appear to exist, or at least isnt registed at companies house. No evidence of correspondence between the freeholder of the land and the previous owner was provided, nor any evidence of actual payment for the work.
I have been to visit the property, and the work has definitely been done. Its quite a nice job actually

We have nearly finished a small refurbishment on the property and will be marketing it for sale soon. I do not want the freeholder to be able to block the sale, so I want to settle the debt. I did consider trying to contest the value, however, it hardly seems worth the effort. I have contacted the solicitor named in the legal pack, and I have not received a reply. After doing a bit of google searching, it seems this solicitor firm has closed down.... in fairly acrimonious circumstances. I have tried contacting the management company to see if they can help, but as the debt is not owed to them, they have not been that helpful. They have tried to get in touch with the freeholder, as they cannot give me his details, but still have not got in touch with him.
Does anyone have any advice as I am really at a loss how to proceed? I do have the bank details and invoice relating to the debt, however I am reluctant to pay it without some confirmation from the freeholder that the matter is closed and he will not unreasonably block the sale. Maybe the management company will get in touch with him soon. What I dont want to happen is to be have a sale agreed, then suddenly this £7,100 debt becomes a £10,000 debt or some other arbitrary number!
Thanks in advance for your help
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