Anyone expert on public sector/charity property sales - possible illegal sale?

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Bit complicated this, but in brief, a body which I believe to be public sector, but a neighbour described as a charity (I can find out which if it makes a difference) has claimed in the past that they cannot sell properties which they own without widely advertising first, even if an offer is received.

We live in a semi-detached house, and had always hoped to buy the other side of the building if/when it eventually came onto the market.

It has been leased as part of a farm estate for a long time. Found out last week that it has now been sold to the farmer, but no advertising took place, and it was all very back door hush hush.

Is this sale ultra vires/illegal, and if so, what action could be taken? We desperately don't want someone else owning and developing (as the farmer intends to do) the house.

Bump in case anyone can help.....

If it is a charity, presumably it has some governing charter which should be in the public domain. You need to look at this to see if they have acted outside their remit in this case.

Oh no!!!

No advice

Have googled a bit, and it seems that it is a public sector body, as I thought. It's a 'university chest'.

Bump for any legal eagles.

The rules that apply to this body will depend on the body, I suspect, particularly as it's not public sector. I'd make inquiries with the body itself, maybe?

Had you made clear to the organisation that you were interested in the other half of the house?

Message withdrawn

I'm pretty sure that the Charity Commission will have rules about this, if it is a charity.

if you check the charity commission web-site (www.charity-commission.gov.uk I think) it has a list of all registered charities. But I don't think that charities have to advertise sales, just go through certain administrative procedures when they sell. As far as I know it is only probate sales that have a duty to get the best price available and they have to advertise, but charities don't. If the charity hasn't followed the procedure (which involves getting a valuation done when they sell) then the charity commission would be interested.

I think that the law will be less about having to advertise the property widely and more related to the fact that they have to show that the price received is "open market value". Of course in practice the easiest way to prove this is for the property to be marketed widely, but they are probably within the law if say they got several estate agents to value the property. What they probably can't do is to sell the property to someone for less than it is worth.

I would also check land registry to see if there is a name and registryation number for who actually holds it and any covenenats on the sale