Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what the process is for the (a) liquidation, (b) declamation and (c) possession of a residential building by the Crown.

An interest in a freehold property owned by a company in liquidation will be dealt with by the appointed liquidator, who will decide how best to deal with the property interest to achieve the best outcome for creditors.

Where the property interest is onerous, for example it is not readily saleable or may give rise to a liability, the liquidator may seek to disclaim it.

Once disclaimed the freehold property interest, in the absence of any other owner or a vesting order, may pass to the Crown Estate according to the legal principle of escheat.

The Crown Estate does not usually seek to take possession of property subject to escheat and does not assume the responsibilities ordinarily attributable to a property owner. It therefore does not manage or insure properties subject to escheat.

The Crown Estate is not bound to dispose of property subject to escheat, or to dispose of such property to any particular purchaser. Normal policy is to dispose of such property to an appropriate purchaser where it is possible to do so.