Bloke cannot repair big gap in his roof as ‘King Charles owns the constructing’

A man says he can’t fix the giant hole in his roof as the building is owned by King Charles.

Peter Batt, 59, has been trying to fix the issue in his top-floor leasehold flat for the last six months after water started pouring through the roof into the bedroom and bathroom.

When he and his neighbours looked into getting the roof fixed, they realised an administrative ‘balls-up’ means the freehold had been transferred to the Crown Estate, which the monarch is the head of.

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The complicated and drawn-out process of transferring the freehold means Peter, a journalist, from Ludlow, Shropshire has to deal with the ongoing effects of the leaky roof – which will cost £74k to fix – on his flat.

Peter bought the flat in June 2019 but had been renting it to a friend when the roof started leaking in February 2024.

He said: “The original developer set up a company to aid the build and sale of the units, then dissolved it as is standard. Due to some oversight or balls-up, the freehold did not transfer over to the residents’ management company.

“Because the [developer’s] company had been dissolved, and the title wasn’t transferred, the land then officially became ownerless.

“This means that the residents’ company can’t secure a loan to repair the work.”

Resident management companies are non-profit firms formed by leasehold residents to look after the management and maintenance of the building they live in.

Taking ownership of the freehold means they have more control over the funding of any structural work.

The building was automatically transferred to the Crown as part of a process called escheat – when ownerless land is passed to the sovereign as “lord paramount of all the land in the realm”.

The original developer of the site, John Walker, who also owns a flat in the building, has admitted the title was not transferred because of an “administrative error”.

He said: “When we were done with the development and the company was wound up, someone forgot to transfer the freehold to the residents company. It was an administrative error.

“We discovered that it had been transferred to the Crown about three years ago, but we took advice from solicitors at the time who said it wouldn’t matter as the homes were on a 199-year lease.

“Now, this issue with the roof has come up. We are trying our best to speed things up and get the freehold back, but it is taking some time.”

The Crown Estate is not able to take any action that could be deemed an act of management, possession or ownership – such as fixing a leaking roof – as it may incur liabilities associated with the property.

Peter said: “This has been a nightmare. For a couple of months at the beginning, I’d spend hours a day emailing people and trying to push them to see what the latest situation is and what their latest strategy was.

“I got as far as I could with that and then the only way you can deal with it is just to pretend it’s not there. But it’s always there in the background, and in the last month it has started waking me up in the morning.

“I find myself getting really angry. In all of this, I just felt terrible for my tenant and her daughter.

“They are living with friends and love this flat, so want to wait to move in.”

The Crown Estate confirmed it acquired the title to Priory Courtyard on November 22, 2017. It could not comment on any application by the resident management company concerning the freehold.

The Daily Star has also reached out to the Crown for comment.