Background

The Ingram court site on Hall Road in Norwich is made up of 95 properties.

For legal and financial reasons, when the site was built in the 1980’s, it was notionally split into two halves.

This web site concerns only the ‘first 50%’ of the original development (the flats that are closest to Hall Road). These 47 flats are numbered 7-54, and are today referred to as ‘Lindley Court’.

Original Freehold Purchase

Back in 1982, a consultation was held with the owners of the Lindley Court flats (ie 7-54 Ingram Court), and it was agreed that it would be worthwhile to acquire the freehold for the site from the then owners The Midland Bank (Isle of Man) Limited.

The flat owners effectively made an approach to ‘buy-out’ the landlord.

(Today, this is an increasingly common practice and is referred to as Leaseholder Enfranchisement. It may be helpful to view this as the flat owners effectively ‘buying the land’ on which their flats are built). More information from The Leasehold Advisory Service can be found here

A Limited Liability company was set up to enable the purchase, and the money needed to acquire the freehold (and also cover the legal fees), was raised by issuing Share Certificates.

In all, 37 out of the 47 potential Lindley Court flat owners each paid £290 to buy back the freehold. Each received a share in the new company.

The Site Today

Since the original share issue, all of the remaining flat owners have opted to pay £290 for a share in the freehold. The freehold is wholly owned by the shareholders.

This means that, if you purchase a flat at the site, then you will automatically become a shareholder of Lindley Court Residents Limited. Your solicitor or conveyancer will arrange the transfer of the share from the previous owner to the new owner.

Advantages of Share Ownership

Owning a share in this company has a number of key advantages:

We, the shareholders have exempted ourselves from paying ground rent. Normally, when you buy a leasehold property the leaseholder is required to pay an annual ground rent, often hundreds of pounds a year, for which the landlord does not have to provide a clear service in return.
At 7-54 Ingram Court, we no longer have a Landlord, and so we do not have to pay an annual ground rent.

Shareholders have a say in the running of the site and can participate in meetings run by the parent company, Lindley Court Residents Limited

Shareholders are entitled to participate in a lease extension scheme, set up by fellow shareholders, which can extend the lease of a flat to 999 years. This process adds significant value to the flats, because for all intents and purposes, the lease never has to be ‘renewed’.
The majority of leases at 7-54 Ingram Court have already been extended to 999 years. But not all of them have been extended. Please check your lease or with a legal or property advisor. More details on the lease extension scheme can be found here