Hi,
I live in a small housing estate with some greens that are considered common areas. The local council recently confirmed that the green area near my house and road are NOT in their charge and are the responsibility of the residents.
The houses were built in the early 1970s and at the time were sold as leasehold with a small nominal ground rent. After the land act of 1976 it became possible to buy out the ground rent for four years rent and many residents did this, including the previous owner of my house and as such my house is on freehold land now. Not all residents have done so, so some of the houses will still have a leasehold title.
I note from the folios available on the Land Registery site landdirect.ie that the common area I mentioned at the start are sill owned by the original builder who is the leasehold landlord for the individual houses.
So does this mean that the builder or his company and/or family (as he is now deceased) is the owner of the common areas or do these transfer to the residents at some point, or would all the residents have a right to buy out the builder etc.?
Does anyone know what the status of the common areas would be here given the housing estate is older than 1976 and also would the builder/company have a right to build on the common areas/greens if they so wished even after 50 years.
Any insights or advice anyone has or links to relevant laws and guidelines on this subject would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I live in a small housing estate with some greens that are considered common areas. The local council recently confirmed that the green area near my house and road are NOT in their charge and are the responsibility of the residents.
The houses were built in the early 1970s and at the time were sold as leasehold with a small nominal ground rent. After the land act of 1976 it became possible to buy out the ground rent for four years rent and many residents did this, including the previous owner of my house and as such my house is on freehold land now. Not all residents have done so, so some of the houses will still have a leasehold title.
I note from the folios available on the Land Registery site landdirect.ie that the common area I mentioned at the start are sill owned by the original builder who is the leasehold landlord for the individual houses.
So does this mean that the builder or his company and/or family (as he is now deceased) is the owner of the common areas or do these transfer to the residents at some point, or would all the residents have a right to buy out the builder etc.?
Does anyone know what the status of the common areas would be here given the housing estate is older than 1976 and also would the builder/company have a right to build on the common areas/greens if they so wished even after 50 years.
Any insights or advice anyone has or links to relevant laws and guidelines on this subject would be appreciated.
Thanks!