Extend lease or try to buy freehold?

ET1976

This is a fairly long post so thanks for reading!

I own a leasehold maisonnette which I rent out (this is not a thread about renting, please don't ask me if I have all the relevant consents and certificates etc!). Some facts:

- it is the upper floor of a 1920's house which has been converted to 2 maisonettes
- both are entirely self-contained, there is nothing communal in the property or gardens (apart from the obvious walls and roof)
- I am not allowed access to the loft (which is only accessible through my property)
- the freeholder is the council
- there are 4 houses in the terrace, this is one of the inside ones
- the other 3 houses have not been converted and are owned freehold by their occupiers
- there are 105 years left on the lease
- the ground rent is £10 (ten pounds) a year
- I don't intend to sell the property for at least 20 years (barring exceptional unforseen circumstances)

I was planning to get a lease extension fairly soon due to the length of the lease (should cost less than £2000 at the moment), but this has got me thinking about other things as well:

- Is it worth looking at buying the freehold? From my limited knowledge I think my neighbour would also have to agree to this (and I have no idea if she would want to). I'm not really sure what the advantages of this would be, and I haven't looked into the potential cost at all yet...

- Is there any way of getting the lease altered to remove the bit about not entering any roof space, if the freeholder were to agree? The people at council had no idea this clause was even in there when I asked them about it. The lease is very generic - lots of irrelevant clauses about lifts and communal stairwells etc - as though they only have 1 lease template for all their properties regardless of whether they are blocks of flats or not. I wouldn't want to try and convert the loft or use it as living space, just be able to officially use it for storage. It also might put future buyers off that they are not allowed into the loft to check what's up there!

Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar position and what their thoughts might be on these things?

Many thanks!

princeofpounds

- Is it worth looking at buying the freehold? From my limited knowledge I think my neighbour would also have to agree to this (and I have no idea if she would want to). I'm not really sure what the advantages of this would be, and I haven't looked into the potential cost at all yet...

Possibly. Depends entirely on the specific figures. You might also value the ability to self-manage the freehold, although you can also go through the RTM process to get that.

Is there any way of getting the lease altered to remove the bit about not entering any roof space, if the freeholder were to agree?

Yes. Get the freeholder and leaseholder to negotiate and amend the terms of the lease. This will be easier if you own it probably, as they can ask for charges for such variations.

www.lease-advice.org is the government funded service that can answer all sorts of questions for you.