Co Down
Nab yourself the only detached house
on Sandringham Drive in Ballyholme,
a beachside suburb about a half-hour
walk from Bangor. Plenty of shops,
restaurants and picturesque coastal
strolls along the mile-long beach are
about ten minutes away from the
property. The ground floor of this
three-bedroom home has a Shaker-style
kitchen, a separate utility room and
three reception rooms as well as a
hallway and a WC. Upstairs, the
bedrooms share a single shower room
and separate loo. Outside space
includes flowerbeds and a driveway to
the front, while the back garden has a
patio, lawn and a summer house and
storage shed.
Upside A detached garage.
Downside No bathtub. You may wish
to update the bathroom.
Contact johnminnis.co.uk
£334,000
Normandy, France
This property in Maupertuis, in
Normandy’s Manche department,
offers a ready-to-go holiday lettings
business. There are 12 bedrooms in
total — the owners have converted
the 200-year-old stone farmhouse into
four self-contained gîtes, as well as a
separate two-storey, one-bedroom home
where they live at present. About
1.66 acres of grounds include a heated
outdoor pool, nine-hole pitch and
putt golf course and a large vegetable
garden. Among the outbuildings are
a large barn, which has planning
permission to be turned into more
living space, and a garage. There is a
supermarket and a bakery in Hambye,
a five-minute drive away.
Upside You get a lot for your money.
Downside The unusual layout may
need tweaking.
Contact hamptons-international.com£349,950
View the UK’s most luxurious residential propertiesmansionglobal.com/londonYou are trustees of
what is known as a
trust of land, and
trustees have general
powers to sell or mortgage the
land or grant leases. Trusts of
land are governed by the Trusts
of Land and Appointment of
Trustees Act 1996, shortened
by lawyers to “Tolata”.
Legal owners of any kind
of trust property must
unanimously join in any
disposition of assets held by
the trust. Trusts of land are
no exception. This means any
one trustee has a veto over a
sale of land. But under section
14 of Tolata a trustee of a
trust of land can apply to
court for relief.
The court has power to
make an order relating to the
functions of the trustees,
including relieving them of any
obligation to obtain consent
from fellow trustees. One of
the most common orders made
under section 14 is known as
an order for sale. This gives
the applicant power to sell
a property, and is often used
when parties disagree about
what should be done.
When considering whether
to make an order for sale,
courts have a general discretion
about what should be done,
but section 15 lists four
considerations that must be
taken into account. These
include having regard to the
intention of the person who
created the trust, the purposefor which the land is held (ie
whether it is an investment
property or intended to be the
home of a family member), the
welfare of any minors living in
the property and the interests
of mortgagees or secured
creditors. In most cases
involving jointly inherited
empty properties, the court
will make an order for sale
and then divide the proceeds
according to the shares set
out in the will.
So if your brother won’t
co-operate, you may apply for
order for sale under Tolata.
Mark Loveday is a barrister
with Tanfield Chambers.
Email your question to brief.
[email protected]My late mother left the family
home to my three siblings
and me, but my oldest brother won’t
sign anything and refuses to sell.
What should we do?
3Brief encounter
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