Dealing with a receiver

[Chris Ryder]

I am looking to see if anyone has any suggestions or contact points to assist on my current flat purchase which is a repossession.

Overview

Purchase price £130k 
Refurb £20k
Lease 61 years
Fifth share of freehold included in original offer, although subsequently we found this is not the case.
Comparables - flat in good condition sold for £220k two weeks ago with long lease

The flat originally had an offer accepted at £145k, this purchase failed and my offer was accepted in mid-June, although property has stayed on the market with two agents with appropriate notice on web site.

The problem is that the mortgage company only secured their £100k loan on the leasehold, the freehold is now with the receiver as an asset of the bankrupt individual. The insolvency service has really struggled with getting a value on the freehold, which pays £20pa ground rent, not usually paid as the leaseholder has the freehold, which is the position with all the other 4 flats. The freehold is valuable to me because it’s my route to extend the lease for no cost except the legals.

I have heard today that the valuer the insolvency service are using has confirmed the freehold has a value, suggested a chartered surveyor is engaged, and guessed a value of £15k.

The mortgage company are putting pressure on to exchange contracts on the lease only, and my solicitor thinks I should only proceed once the freehold is secured.

My options as I see it are:

1 Just buy leasehold and take a chance on securing the freehold in the future, or not.
2 Make an offer to the receiver for what I am prepared to pay for the freehold, I’m not sure if this is even possible.
3 Pay the guesstimate value of £15k, although I suspect the receiver will want a proper valuation.
4 Wait for the insolvency service and receiver to engage a chartered surveyor and await their findings, this would probably takes weeks, if not months.
5 Neither the receiver or insolvency service have budget to pay for the chartered surveyor, so even agreeing this could take some time, so I could pay for this to speed the process up and accept the risk.

I welcome any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Chris.