Bulk lease extension/ Freehold

Imelda

Dear all,

I received through the post today a letter from Leasehold solutions regarding a proposal to bulk extend the lease/ buy the freehold of my flat. I live in a small complex and it appears that this company has approached all the owners of the flats (I have not been there very long). I have only briefly read the letter but it seems that if they get enough interest they will go ahead and negotiate buying the freehold. If not they will proceed with bulk extending the leaseholds. I have a few questions,
1. What are the pros and cons of buying the freehold?
2. What are the responsibilities of becoming a director?
3. By bulk extending the leaseholds will it make it cheaper?
4. Has anyone had experience of dealing with Leasehold solutions?
5. Will the price of my property go up on the back of extending the lease/ buying the freehold?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I am not at the stage of having to sign yet, just show an interest, I ddon't want to hand over any money until I know more.

Thanks!

cattie

Has this company just written to you out of the blue or is it someone the leaseholders as a group have contacted with a view to extending leases/buying freehold?

If it is the former, then steer clear. They will be looking to make money out of you for something you can arrange to do between yourselves far cheaper.

Try these people for info on owning leasehold property. It is a government funded agency & they are the best people to go to for help or advice. http://www.lease-advice.org/newintro.htm

Imelda

sorry for not replying sooner!

I am not sure, the first contact was made before I bought the flat. They have recently sent me copies of all the letters they have sent, it appears that a member of our committee approached them. We have a meeting soon so I will put it to them that we do this ourselves.
I also wanted to know the pros and cons of becoming freehold, what are the extra responsibilities? And what happens if only a few of us buy the freehold? Will it make my flat more difficult to sell? Should we just go for the lease extension?

tifnstav

If you buy the freehold between you, you might form a kind of management company between yourself and the others that choose to buy also.
I got offered the same thing for my flat but to be honest I don't want to be responsible for organising the cleaning of communal areas, maintenance of the roof and drains etc and arranging the buildings insurance!
I left it as it is, I'm far too busy for all that effort!