Leaseholders’ Claim to Acquire Freehold of Parking Spaces Defeated

On collectively buying the freehold of a block, leaseholders will often want to acquire the freehold of parking spaces, gardens and other property outside of the building itself. In some circumstances leaseholders will be entitled to include these areas within the claim however in each case a careful examination of the leases must be undertaken to establish the correct position.

Cutter v Pry Limited

The case of Cutter v Pry Limited [2015] illustrates that flat owners cannot assume an entitlement to acquire the freehold of parking spaces used in conjunction with their flats. The leases in question provided that each flat owner was entitled to park in a space allocated by the freeholder from time to time.

The Upper Tribunal accepted the argument that a specific allocated parking space was not something used ‘in common’ with other flat owners, with the result that there was no right for the group of flat owners to include the parking spaces in the claim. The flat owners were in this case only able to buy the freehold of the building.

There may be any number of tactical reasons why a freeholder might wish to retain ownership of certain parts of a development. For example the retention of certain areas may assist future development opportunities on the land or neighbouring land.

For this reason freeholders are well advised to seek specialist assistance when responding to a collective enfranchisement claim or indeed when granting new leases. If you have any questions, would like formal advice or wish to set up a meeting with us then please contact:

Ricky Coleman – Solicitor in the Property Litigation Team at Dean Wilson LLP

01273 249251  rfc@deanwilson.co.uk