Buying and selling

Guide to Buying and Selling Properties

Our company exists to run the communal areas around our homes. It is managed exclusively by residents who provide their time and skills without charge. This has worked well for us for a number of years and our administration expenses are as low as they can be. However we do need the co-operation of all home owners on the estate, particularly when homes change hands.

The procedure is set out in your title, although curiously, some conveyancers have failed to observe it. Your title says that:
•Before any sale of a home you must notify our company of the proposed sale with the name and address of the buyer; and
•On completion of that sale you must transfer your share in our company to the buyer and the buyer must give the Company a deed promising to observe the obligations contained in the title, which include the payment of the service charge. Please see the link to the draft covenant below.

If you are planning to sell, please make your conveyancer aware of the following procedures:

On exchanging contracts to sell your home the company should be notified of these items:
1.The address of the home;
2.Who is selling;
3.The full name(s) and address of the buyer;
4.The name, address and reference of the conveyancer.

The address for notification is 1 West Hill Park, London N6 6ND.

Prior to completing the sale the buyer should sign the Deed of Covenant and a Stock Transfer form in readiness.

Immediately following completing the sale the buyer’s conveyancer should send both the Stock
Transfer Form and the Deed of Covenant to the company with the share certificate.
In the event that the company does not receive these documents properly completed within one month of the sale of a house, the company will levy a fee to cover its expenses of £100 or such larger sum as may be deemed appropriate.

What will happen then?
Provided that all service charges are fully paid up and there are no breaches of covenant, the company will issue a new share certificate in favour of the buyer and send it to the buyer’s conveyancer to be placed with their title deeds.

Please see the links below for a downloadable draft Deed of Covenant and for the annual accounts of the company.

Hill Court Flats
The position is somewhat different for the 8 flats.

The Hill Court building is owned by West Hill Court Management Co Ltd. (WHCM) which holds 8 of the 52 shares in the company (the other 44 being held by the 44 house owners). The Lessee of each flat holds 1 of the 8 shares in West Hill Court Management Co. Ltd. (and so apart from being a Lessee also is a joint owner of the Freeholder). On sale that share should be transferred from the seller to the buyer.

West Hill Park Management Company is a party to the Lease and the covenants in the Lease link the flats into the scheme for the West Hill Park estate.

On a sale and purchase solicitors should communicate with WHCM through Playfield Management (272 Streatfield Road, Kenton, Harrow Middlesex HA3 9BY) who are the managing agents for WHCM (though not, of course, for West Hill Park Management Ltd).