I'm confused about freeholds/leasehold

[LaurieFairyCake]

I thought the flat ( only 2 original maisonettes) was freehold ie. No lease

Apparently it's 'share of freehold' and upstairs the same. And the lease is 100 years.

So if there's only two flats and they both own a share of the freehold, how can it be a lease?

Well it is quite difficult (impossible?) to have flats in the same building at freehold in their own right as you sit on the same bit of land, and share the same roof and external walls etc.

This link explains well: www.ker.co.uk/what-is-a-share-of-freehold/

Most attractive 1) Freehold house 2) flat with share of freehold 3) leasehold flat

However you do have responsibilities with SOF and there can be difficulties if one person isn't coperative or goes AWAOL or something.

That's an excellent link, thanks very much

With only 2 flats I'm struggling to imagine if there's a third party who owns the lease though as we definitely both own an independent share of freehold.

Hopefully the sellers pack will arrive soon with this answer

No one else owns the freehold, you share it (and its responsibilities) with the other flat-owner.

The easiest way to think of freehold/leasehold is to consider the freeholder the owner of the builder - they own all the fabric of the building and flats within it. A leaseholder has bought the right to live in the flat (or let someone else live there) for the length of time left on the lease which is why a leaseholder has to ask the freeholder permission to make any modifications.

By dividing the freehold between the leaseholders - share of freehold - each leaseholder has an element of control over what happens to the building: its maintenance, modifications, improvements etc. But, that share isn't related just to the part of the building that you reside in, so you need a lease to lay out what you are allowed and not allowed to do within your own flat and where the shared responsibilities lie.

There will be a company that owns the freehold you and the other flatowner 'own' the company 50/50. Sometimes managing the company is outsourced sometimes freeloaders do it themselves (my preferred option). The company issues the leases therefore you set/own your own lease. It's the best scenario for a flat.