Leasehold? Think twice!!

Julysea

Just wanted to warn others of my experience and maybe save someone else making an expensive mistake. We are in the process of selling and leasehold maisonette and it has been the most awful process. We've had to renew the house and garage lease separately even though we never knew they were separate ( and pay for each), the lease had some problem in the way it was written and needed a deed of variation or indemnity insurance in case there was a problem whcih arose as a consequence of the problem, plus the lease has complicated the whole sale process and lengthened it considerably. I know that just because something is leasehold, it doesn't have to be this way, but, if you are even now thinking about buying a leasehold property, I really urge you to check everything 3 times: how long is left on the lease? If it's less than 85 years, don't touch it unless you know exactly how much it will cost to increase including costs. Check that garages, lofts and gardens are included on the same lease and have the same time to run. Check how often ground rent and any maintenance charges are increased. Check who is responsible for paying for repairs and also who will be deciding on the contractor to do them. Have the lease checked to make sure it is written properly and there's no oddments, changes required, indemnity policies needed. IN short, don't get ripped off like we have, and don't assume anything, have it all checked line by line. Rant over, thank you!

JennyW_2

Julysea wrote:

Just wanted to warn others of my experience and maybe save someone else making an expensive mistake. We are in the process of selling and leasehold maisonette and it has been the most awful process. We've had to renew the house and garage lease separately even though we never knew they were separate ( and pay for each), the lease had some problem in the way it was written and needed a deed of variation or indemnity insurance in case there was a problem whcih arose as a consequence of the problem, plus the lease has complicated the whole sale process and lengthened it considerably. I know that just because something is leasehold, it doesn't have to be this way, but, if you are even now thinking about buying a leasehold property, I really urge you to check everything 3 times: how long is left on the lease? If it's less than 85 years, don't touch it unless you know exactly how much it will cost to increase including costs. Check that garages, lofts and gardens are included on the same lease and have the same time to run. Check how often ground rent and any maintenance charges are increased. Check who is responsible for paying for repairs and also who will be deciding on the contractor to do them. Have the lease checked to make sure it is written properly and there's no oddments, changes required, indemnity policies needed. IN short, don't get ripped off like we have, and don't assume anything, have it all checked line by line. Rant over, thank you!

But all of these items should've been highlighted to you when you purchased the property? They would've been detailed in the leasehold contract which you would receive before exchange.

We've just purchased leasehold and had no problems. All the items you desribed were raised by my solicitor.

pigeonpie

We are finding that the lease is silent on certain key elements (whether the garden is communal or not, although there is a service charge relating to it, it's legally unclear), plus other things like how often will the freeholder paint the exterior.
So it's not just as Julysea says, check what is in the lease, but also what isn't.

EdInvestor

In an ideal world, your solicitor should be checking the lease in detail.But it's always wise to go through the lease yourself, and take up any queries with him just to make sure.

I'd advise anyone planning to buy a leasehold property to study this website -it covers the issues pretty thoroughly.

https://www.lease-advice.org.uk

Worried

I have just lost the flat I'm buying because the freeholder put up the price of the lease extension by £2000 just before we were about to exchange. I'm taking time out to lick my wounds, but will be back next year looking for a house with my boyfriend, so none of this leasehold stuff. It's been a nightmare experience for me and I pity anyone at the mercy of rogue freeholders and management companies. Leasehold can be a minefield, but not always. I just say to anyone looking at leasehold, get a good solicitor to check every aspect of the lease. I would say to people look for flats with a long lease, of it's getting close to 80, just walk away before you get your heart set on it, as extending can really be a nightmare and you really would be better of not going there!

Julysea

I agree, these things should be brought up by a solicitor, but they aren't always, and if you don't have the experience to check yourself or get them to do it, then you can easily find yourself in a bad situation. Many things in our situation weren't spelled out when we bought and we didn't ahve the experience ourselves to realise the implications of the length of the lease. I'm not saying leasehold is always a bad thing, just to think carefully and get everything thoroughly checked out first.

For what it's worth, Worried, I think you've done the right thing though I can really appreciate how awful you feel now with all that time and energy and money down the drain!

mrsc_4

I have to say we brought a leasehold flat and are currently selling it, and we've had no problems. There is a long lease over 90 years, and the management company is run by the lady who lives above us as we self manage. This causes us no problems what so ever and keeps cost down. We had nothing but positive comments by people who viewed our flat and by friends and family on the state of the garden and communal areas they are very well kept and everyone who lives in the block ensures this.

We were worried when we decided to sell that there would be problems and complications but there hasn't been any so far (buyer ready to exchange) we've had more problems trying to buy the property with freehold than we ever had buying our leasehold flat.

I think it really depends on where and what you are buying.

Worried

mrsc, sounds like you had the ideal set up there though. If the lease is long and it is all very clear what is paid for and it is managed by someone decent and honest, or self managed, then there is nothing wrong with leasehold. Just want people to be cautious and get everything checked out before they commit to anything.

mrsc_4

Worried I totally agree with you, when we brought our flat we were really worried about the lease and the terms and our Solicitor was very good with going over everything in the lease and ensuring we understood everything (shame his partner isn't being so good this time round with our purchase but thats another rant for another time)