The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-01)

18 May 1, 2022The Sunday Times

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the purchase of the property,

it may be the case that you

hold the beneficial title in four

equal shares. If the other

couple is unable or unwilling

to buy your shares, then you

could discuss with them

putting the property on the

market for sale and, once

the property is sold, your

respective shares would be

paid from the proceeds. If the

other couple refuse to sell the

property then you could seek

an order for the sale under

sections 14 and 15 of the Trusts

of Land & Appointment of

Trustees Act 1996.

As such proceedings can

involve significant costs, it

would be worth seeing if there

is any way to resolve concerns

that the other couple may

have about a sale, and you

may also want to consider

taking part in a mediation.

If a negotiated settlement

agreeing the terms for a sale

is not possible, then you can

apply to court for an order

providing for the marketing

and sale of the property, as

well as the distribution of

sale proceeds. You should

instruct specialist solicitors

to act for you in relation to

such proceedings as they

can be complicated and

time-consuming.

Jonathan Achampong, partner

within the residential property

team at Wedlake Bell

Send questions to

homehelp@sunday-

times.co.uk. Advice given

without responsibility

WE OWN A

HOLIDAY

HOME WITH

ANOTHER

COUPLE AND

WANT TO SELL UP

Q

My wife and I are

joint owners of

a holiday home

with another couple. Once

we are mortgage-free we

wish to sell our share,

hopefully while we are

both alive (rather than

immediately after one of

us dies). Where do we stand

if the other couple can’t

buy our share and do not

wish to sell? We do not have

any written agreement,

legal or otherwise. I’m

not even sure we ever

discussed it all those years

ago (big mistake).

Anonymous

A

Ownership of land in

England and Wales is

categorised in two ways: the

“legal title” and the “beneficial

title”. The beneficial title can

be held as either “joint

tenants” or “tenants in

common”. When co-owners

are joint tenants, each owns

the whole of the property,

rather than a distinct share.

When a joint tenant dies,

the property passes to the

surviving joint tenants,

rather than to their personal

representatives as part of their

estate. Where each owner

owns a separate share in the

property, this is known as a

tenancy in common.

Assuming the four of you

contributed equally towards

HOME

HELP

READERS’ CLINIC

HOW DO I REMOVE THE BLACK DEPOSITS FROM AN

IRON SOLEPLATE?

Midge Broadhurst,

Cheshire

Heat the iron to a

high setting and then

rub with a paracetamol

tablet (oblong ones, not

round ones). Take care to

avoid burning fingers! Wipe

off residue, run iron over

clean cloth.

Wendy Martin, Caerphilly

Heat iron and use a

paracetamol tablet

(not caplet) to wipe off

deposit. Use eyebrow

tweezers to stop fingers

getting burnt! Wipe residue

with kitchen towel.

L Taylor, Peebles

Most deposits appear

because the iron is set

too hot for the material;

polyester is the worst

offender. So check your

setting. Clean with liquid

cleaner such as Cif with

an abrasive plastic sponge

and rinse off. If deposits

are heavy scrape first. A

Stanley window scraper

is ideal — avoid digging

blade corners into

the soleplate.

Dr Andrew Bamji

Wipe soleplate

while warm (not hot)

with a cotton cloth dipped

in white vinegar.

Sissel Harrison

Put hot water into a shallow

baking tray. Sprinkle in

dishwasher powder in the

size/shape of soleplate.

Place iron on powder area,

just below waterline. Water

should be shallow so as not

to cover the soleplate sides.

Leave overnight. Clean off

with rough cloth.

Robert Bullock

FUTURE QUESTION

lHow do you stop clingfilm

from tearing, then sticking

to itself and becoming

unusable? How do you

uncling it once it has

become torn and clingy?

Send tips and questions

to homehelp@sunday-

times.co.uk. Advice is given

without responsibility

TIME AND SPACE THE WAY WE LIVE NOW

HAMISH BOWLES

The interiors editor on style, long

soaks in the bath, and being burgled

DAVID M BENETT/GETTY IMAGES; ANNA STOWE/ALAMY; NEW YORK INTERIORS BY SIMON UPTON PUBLISHDED BY VENDOME PRESS

Tangier in Morocco, there

was this wonderful spirit of

eclecticism and transporting an

idea of England or France into

what was available in Morocco.

Which is your favourite room?

My favourite room is the living room

in my New York place, which I

transformed into a library. I worked

with Roberto Peregalli and Laura

Sartori Rimini of Studio Peregalli. It’s a

little bit of that expatriate in Morocco

idea of transplanting an Italianate

vision of what an English gentleman’s

residence might look like in New York.

Name an item you could not

live without

Probably a clay handprint of my

nephew, made when he was five.

I’m also partial to a portrait of

Truman Capote by Réné Bouché.

It belonged to him [Capote] and was

the image he used as the author’s

portrait on the dust jacket of

Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Is there a big difference between

American and British attitudes

to interiors?

There’s a more robust embrace of

professional decorators in America.

The industry makes it quite difficult

for someone even to shop for the

higher-end interiors fabrics and

wallcoverings in the States, because

you need a decorator’s resale number.

Here there’s a little bit of a sense you

ought to be able to do it yourself.

Where was the worst house

you lived in?

When I was nine and into my early

teens we lived on a smallholding in

Kent. I realised what an urbanite

I was, but I’m glad I had the

experience. It did give me a burning

drive to return to a metropolis.

What was your worst disaster

at home?

A burglary. They took some things of

material value, which I wasn’t really

exercised about, but scooped up

anything that looked like jewellery,

and all kinds of things without value

on the resale market. Things like all

the cufflinks I’d collected in various

places around the world since a

teenager, and brooches I’d saved up to

get from Andrew Logan in the 1980s.

Personal things that wouldn’t mean

anything to anyone else.

Guiltiest home pleasure?

Long baths with a lot of unguents. I’m

currently bingeing on [the HBO TV

show] The Gilded Age. It’s irresistible.

Interview by Katrina Burroughs

The May issue of The World of Interiors

is on sale now

I

am living between two places

at the moment. I have my

apartment in New York, which

I’m seeing a great deal less of.

I’m currently staying with a

hospitable and indulgent friend in

Kensington, with a bedroom that

looks out on to a communal garden

that’s filled with magnolias and

camellias. It’s difficult to leave,

although I am on a house-hunt.

Do you feel under pressure to have

a stylish home, given your job?

My homes have been a reflection of

my travels, interests, obsessions and

passions, so they are very personal. If

anyone would consider them stylish

it’s certainly not what I set out to do.

Which home first inspired your

interest in interiors and how?

When I was 14 or 15, I went to Reddish

House in Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, for

the sale of the late Cecil Beaton’s

house contents. It was as though Cecil

had just stepped out into his garden to

smell the roses. There were these

exuberant flower arrangements

everywhere, and 18th and 19th-

century antiques. The whole

theatricality of it I found completely

beguiling. Every single thing was

covetable. And after that, going to

Hamish Bowles’s New York home,

above and below. Reddish House

in Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, top