So Annoyed!!

office_2

Can someone tell me if it the responsibilitly of an estate agent to advertise the fact a property is Leasehold!!

Saw the property details, had a viewing were happy with a property, made an offer, was accepted only to find out from the homebuyers report that it was leasehold!!! £1k out of pocket to find out 70 years left!!

I am confident the estate agent would have know, as the first thing they asked (same estate agent) when selling mine was if it was freehold or leasehold.

I am so annoyed, I may not have decided to put an offer in if I had known this, surley I have the right to know and be fully aware of the facts !!!

Rant over!!

Tassotti

I have heard of agents being sued over the fact that they advertised a parking space when it wasn't true.

There are many regulations which agents have to follow, and many are wary of this.

I think you have a case to get your expenses back.

I am sure more posts will follow.

Be lucky

Tass

lush_walrus

Estate agents are not allowed to misdescribe property details. So in this case, if they stated that the property were freehold and it were leasehold then yes they would be liable.

They do not however have to state either way, its for you as the potential buyer to ask the question of them if it isnt stated.

Out of interest, did you not realise it was leasehold? Generally, its an obvious thing all purpose built flats are leasehold, most maisonettes are leasehold, and some house conversions remain freehold. Did you ask them the question?

office_2

The estate agent did not advertise either way so I incorrectly assumed that it would be Freehold.

It is a 3 bedroom semi-detactched house in a cul-d-sac, I would have never in a million years thought it would be leasehold.

I accept some responsibility, however it annoys me that the estate agents are happy to waste both mine and the vendors time and even if I pull out, there is no guarentee that it wont happen to the next person.

I do hold some responsibility with them as I am sure they are aware of the fact but did not tell me.

clutton_2

many many terraced houses are leasehold - there is no way to tell apart from asking.

matto

Have you considered making a very substantially reduced offer?

clutton_2

have you asked your solicitor how much he thinks it might cost to increase the number of years on the lease ? it may not be much. you can always suggest paying a "lower" fee to the EA at the end of the day because of his incompetence.

office_2

I am afraid its more about future resale of the house. All going to plan, the wife and I would like to raise a family there and have no plans to move on.

So in 30 or so years with 40 years left on the lease I dont want to be left with something worthless and I can sell. So even a reduced offer would not really be an option I am afraid.

!!!!!!!

Tassotti

office wrote:

The estate agent did not advertise either way so I incorrectly assumed that it would be Freehold.

It is a 3 bedroom semi-detactched house in a cul-d-sac, I would have never in a million years thought it would be leasehold.

I accept some responsibility, however it annoys me that the estate agents are happy to waste both mine and the vendors time and even if I pull out, there is no guarentee that it wont happen to the next person.

I do hold some responsibility with them as I am sure they are aware of the fact but did not tell me.

You are in no way responsible for this...You are out a bag of sand. Write a letter to the agents informing them that you want your money back, otherwise you will be talking to your 'friend' who is the editor of a national paper.

matto

Tell the seller you're only interested if its got a much longer lease. He's in the best position to get the lease extended.

I'm pretty sure most EA's details I've ever seen where it indicates Leasehold/Freehold there is a proviso that its the buyer's responsibility to check.

office_2

matto wrote:

Tell the seller you're only interested if its got a much longer lease. He's in the best position to get the lease extended.

I'm pretty sure most EA's details I've ever seen where it indicates Leasehold/Freehold there is a proviso that its the buyer's responsibility to check.

My solicitor is enquiring about purchasing the freehold. There was just nothing, nothing even to say check which would have reminded me.

I will ring my solictor today and see if they have any news.

It was all going so well....