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Hi! I found out mine is ?730 for 2 beds flat victorian converted. How did you find the history of the building insurance claims? Can we just ask the solicitor to get the history of insurance claims?

Hi, Check my private message. I've replied to you. Unfortunately, you cannot buy the share of freehold if the other flat is rented by the council.

Hi :) If the other floor is willing to join the share of the freeholder, you can purchase the freeholder from Southwark. If you cannot, you can still purchase the lease of roof space from the council and covert it (separate Planning permission required, but one leaseholder flat on the road could convert, so it's possible to convert too)

I put an offer down on the leasehold flat with the council owning the freehold. I received the Southwark guidance report from our solicitor and send a heads up to the vendor & estate agency. What they say is just ignoring and do it unless it's not the structural change because no one cares. I am glad that I found someone like you who is following the leasehold contract and takes it seriously not to bleach the lease. I am also trying to buy the freehold from the council, which will be quite difficult though..... I really hope you managed it without extra money.

Thank you, Pugwash,dimples,ElliotW,SpringTime for sharing the cases and advice with me. As a first time buyer, the process of purchasing a flat is daunting though, this whole LEASEHOLD made me think of the real "homeownership". One of the solicitors we contacted refused to take our case as below. "I?ve never come across a situation before where I have seen them (the council) do this. I am not entirely sure that the council would be open to this." Getting consent on every small alternation inside of my own flat such as installing shelves (?110), removing cupboards(?110), or replacing new kitchen appliances ((?45) costs administration fees. This is not real ownership I think. Most leaseholders would not afford Freehold properties. Then the leasehold has to take the onerous responsibilities paying the extra cost for enjoying the homeownership. We keep contacting solicitors and council officers. I hope we could find a way to purchase the freehold from the Southwark council to be responsible for my own property and my community. Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

Hi All, This is my first time posting here. Hope I found the right section for my topic. Thank you in advance. We are in the process of buying a first floor flat in a victorian conversion with 2 flats in the corner of East Dulwich. It is a leasehold, Southwark council being the freeholder. We realised that the Southwark council requires applications and charges fees for any small alterations to our home, even for removing a cupboard or installing a shelf. It might be our lack of experience in the matter, but I find this very odd, especially as a new flat owner, I think it's normal wanting to move and change furniture in our flat without sending applications and waiting for a reply for each small change. So we thought an alternative would be to purchase the freehold from the council. We also found out that the Southwark council is the owner and freeholder of the ground floor flat and it's renting it to a council tenant. Could you share any information if you have heard or experienced buying the freehold from Southwark council where the other flat owner is the council itself? I guess it won't be possible to have a share of freehold in this case and we will have to buy the freehold of the whole building. One last question: In case we purchase the freehold, would the loft be included in the sale? At the moment the council owns the loft too. The guideline of the URL below from the council sounds like it's possible but we're not 100% sure. https://www.southwark.gov.uk/home-owners-services/buying-selling-subletting-and-remortgaging/buying-the-freehold-of-your-building-from-us If you have any information on this matter it'd be a massive help for us. Thank you.