We've just found out.....

Whits

pbradley936 wrote:

You would have to read it to see what it says but basically they put those clauses in to safeguard the flats/houses as a whole. For instance if someone wanted to paint their windows shocking pink when everyone else had white.

And the problem with that would be

Seriously though, would I have to obtain permission to put new windows in or is that something that would be detailed in the lease itself?

Mrs_pbradley936

You would have to read it. But mostly they concerned that you do not "lower the tone" or upset your neighbours.

Dead_Eye_Jones

leasehold can be a world of pain if the leasholder is a nob - but dont you have a legal right to buy the lease? If you did buy it, would it then essentially be freehold?

mate of mine had a real prob selling on their property as the leasehold was putting up a fuss for no reason, almost fell through, essentially my mate was blackmailed into handing over cash. Sucks but its was all legal.

Whits

pbradley936 wrote:

You would have to read it. But mostly they concerned that you do not "lower the tone" or upset your neighbours.

My OH has 2 teenage boys and we have 3 dogs, consider the tone lowered:D

MissMotivation

You can report the EA to trading standards for breach of the Property Misdescriptons Act, however unless you have suffered any substantial monetary loss you are unlikely to get compensation.

The EA's should be bothered as they can be fined if they did not show due diligence in checking any information supplied by themselves.

Have you paid for survey/searches etc?

Whits

MissMotivation wrote:

Have you paid for survey/searches etc?

We've paid for the survey but nothing else, our solicitor told us but we haven't yet paid for searches.

The thing is, I'm not interested in any financial compensation, I was just wondering if it would hold up the buying process.

sham63

I live in a leasehold house. It did not delay the buying process. We exchanged & completed in four weeks.

Each lease is different, but it's unlikely that there's anything to stop you doing anything 'normal'. The only things in our lease along those lines are that you have to notify the freeholder if you want to build an extension; you can't park a caravan on your drive; you can't erect boundary fences on the front (it's all open front gardens). As a previous poster stated it's just to keep the area looking smart.

annie123

Hi I am an agent an yes you can go to trading standards.
Yes we asssume most houses are freehold as most are. Sellers are normally very quick to point out if it is leasehold. Ask the agent now if at any point the seller has informed them it was leasehold. You may not be bothered now but you have should get as much info as possiable.

It will take you solicitor an extra couple of weeks.
He will raise question to the freeholder about the lease.

Get him to ask how much to buy the freehold.

It wont be much with that lenght of lease. Even if he doesnt want to sell it now you have a right to buy it in a couple of years.

Every leasehold house I have sold (southeast London) has the same company freeholders and they have been only too pleased to get rid of it. It maybe the same where you are buying.
Get you solicitor to ask these things now, you can pay for searches later (if you are worried about time he can do personal asearches)

Good luck

pboae

You need to see a copy of the lease before you go any further. There are all sorts of things that can be in a lease, including whether or not you are allowed pets. When we had a leasehold flat the freeholders were responsible for the windows and external decoration. (We still had to pay for it, we just didn't get any say in who did it or how much it cost).

As it is a house rather than a flat, it should be fairly easy to buy the freehold once you own the house. But again you need to check if that is possible, as there are some exceptions.

Doozergirl

Where in SE London are you based, annie123?