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Extend lease or try and get freehold?
mez_ski
Posts: 3 Newbie
Hi all
I wonder if you can help me....we own (and rent out) a flat which has 80 years left on the lease (on 24 Dec, it will be 79 years). There are 5 flats in the building, 3 of which are owned (by leasehold) by the members of the same family - one member of this family also owns the freehold for the whole building. He is very old and so a friend of his has a Power of Attorney to make decisions on his behalf. Although I have tried to broach the subject of extension/freehold informally, the friend has said he doesn't want to do anything (it is not his place to do so, he says). So my dilemma is do I try and extend the lease now (though probably can't be done quick enough to get the benefit of the 80 year threshold) or, do I try and hope that one day I will be able to get my hands on part of the freehold (hoping that maybe the family agree or one of them sells and the new owners agree so we can force the sale).
The ground rent is £50pa (for all flats - never gone up) and although we paid £266K a few years ago, I suspect it is now worth close to £400K (the other flats would be worth more).
Thanks for your views!
I wonder if you can help me....we own (and rent out) a flat which has 80 years left on the lease (on 24 Dec, it will be 79 years). There are 5 flats in the building, 3 of which are owned (by leasehold) by the members of the same family - one member of this family also owns the freehold for the whole building. He is very old and so a friend of his has a Power of Attorney to make decisions on his behalf. Although I have tried to broach the subject of extension/freehold informally, the friend has said he doesn't want to do anything (it is not his place to do so, he says). So my dilemma is do I try and extend the lease now (though probably can't be done quick enough to get the benefit of the 80 year threshold) or, do I try and hope that one day I will be able to get my hands on part of the freehold (hoping that maybe the family agree or one of them sells and the new owners agree so we can force the sale).
The ground rent is £50pa (for all flats - never gone up) and although we paid £266K a few years ago, I suspect it is now worth close to £400K (the other flats would be worth more).
Thanks for your views!
0
Comments
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Why do you want the freehold/ share of freehold? Leaseholders can't exercise their right to collective enfranchisement unless the freehold is first up for sale - basically you must be given first refusal, you can't force a sale.
Assuming you have been a leaseholder for two years or more you do have the right to extend your lease, If the POA doesn't want to get involved then they will have to appoint a solicitor or management company to oversee the entire process. They don't have the option not to do anything once you have formally applied!
You will find this website helpful:
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️0 -
Thanks Fire Fox. Oh dear, seems I misunderstood the rules on buying the freehold - I really thought you could force the sale even if the freehholder wasn't interested - is that definitely not right? If so, I guess it's extend leasehold time. I don't suppose you have a ball park figure for what that would cost (bearing in mind we drop below 80 years next month...) Thank you!0
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