Grumble about ea's details & leaseholds

cattie

Grr! How I wish estate agents would state on all property details for leasehold properties how much the service & maintenance charges are & how long is remaining on the lease.

It's very rare to see a mention of what the charges are, yet it's all part of the finances with regards to buying the property for goodness sake & can depend on whether someone is interested in the property or not or whether they will be even able to afford the annual outgoings on these charges.


Regarding the length of the lease, I've noticed one or 2 estate agents do occasionally slip in a quote along the lines of '99yr lease (granted from 1970)' if the lease isn't of a particularly great duration. But why not just be up front & say 63yrs left of 99yr lease & do away with the misleading quotes & brackets.

tazgirl

I completely understand how you feel as we bought a leasehold flat four years ago without really understanding the costs. However, from the point of view of selling the same flat I suspect part of the problem may be the sellers providing the proof - we were able to tell our estate agent exactly how much the ground rent is, how long the lease etc etc (and we're in the complicated position of offering a lease extension with the property which changes the g'rent), but they weren't able to put this info on the details unless we had written proof - so letter from freeholder, letter from management company. I think if they print incorrect information (even accidentally) they/we can be held liable?

Jorgan_2

This is to do with with the Property Misdiscriptions Act. If an EA puts on a set of details inaccurate information, they are liable for it, unless they can prove due diligence. As Agents usually don't get to see the deeds of a property they are unable to check how long a lease has left on it. The same is similar with management fees.

Agents can be fined up to £5,000 for a breach of the PMA. If an Agent makes a misrepresentation in relation to the lease on a set of details, on their web site & you are told by the agent on the viewing that the lease is xx years, when it isn't, that is actually three breaches of the PMA, each one punishable with a fine of upto £5,000.

It can be a very expensive mistake.

david29dpo

this is true on second hand sales but no excuse on new builds. we looked at a new build a little while ago, converted outbuilding of a large manor-house. amazing place with communal swimming pool, tennis counts, you name it,it had it. no mention of the maintenance charges in the details. turned out to be £3000 a year!!