drawbacks of leasehold property?

zaksmum

Could anyone advise me please about the pros and cons of buying a leasehold property?

I've seen a property I like but the vendor won't budge on asking price although it's been on the market for 18 months without any interest or price reduction.

It's leasehold which does put me off a bit. Vendor says apart from the ground rent it's no different from a freehold property.

I can't imagine any advantages to leasehold properties - but what might the disadvantages be?

BitterAndTwisted

SERVICE CHARGES.

Do not accept a word this vendor has to say. A leasehold property is nothing like owning a freehold. Some leases won't even allow you to keep a pet.

How long is the lease and do the leaseholders own a share of the freehold or not?

zaksmum

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

SERVICE CHARGES.

Do not accept a word this vendor has to say. A leasehold property is nothing like owning a freehold. Some leases won't even allow you to keep a pet.

How long is the lease and do the leaseholders own a share of the freehold or not?

Thanks B&T. Vendor claims not to know how long's left on the lease, says solicitor will find out about that for me...! They don't own any share though, they said.

I've got 2 dogs so would definitely need to know about whether pets are allowed.

Can I find out all this before incurring any legal costs?

BitterAndTwisted

The vendor knows exactly how many years are left on the lease, Everyone can count back from a hundred unless they are three years old. This bodes ill, so quite frankly I'd not pursue this one. Sounds like the vendor doesn't want to sell this property in any case if it's been on the market for so long and they're not willing to negotiate sensibly.

Jariya

If you have already instructed solicitors about this property and you then pull out then yes you will incur their charge as if for a purchase.

I was originally interested in a leasehold property which had a 99 year lease with about half of that remaining and in about 10 years it would become un-mortgageable unless the lease was renewed whihc could cost anything from £1000 to £20000 ish.

I pull out once I found all of this out and chose another leasehold property which is now 50 years into a 999 year lease.

We have a clause to say no pets..quite a few places here have them though and it's never been a problem.

You need to find out how long the lease is and how long is left on it.

I did end up sacking one solicitor over this (I sacked them so did not pay a penny to them) as he told me he didn't know anything about leases and that I would need to find it all out myself!!??

G_M

Is this a flat or a house?

Flats nearly ALL have leases so you have little choice. But it is important you know how long the lease has remaining AND what the erms are: service/mamagement charges? repairs? conditions on use? access to gardens etc

Leasehold houses are rarer (though more common in the North I understand). There may well not be any service charges (you have full repairing responsibility and there may not be a 'communal' parts), but again you need to see he terms. You might need the freeholder's permission if you ever want to build/extend for example.

Yes your solicitor will check all this, but he'll charge for his work whether you buy or not.

A serious vendor with nothing to hide should provide basic answers though.

chris_m

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

The vendor knows exactly how many years are left on the lease, Everyone can count back from a hundred unless they are three years old.

Not all leases start at 100 years.

zaksmum

G_M wrote: »

Is this a flat or a house?

Flats nearly ALL have leases so you have little choice. But it is important you know how long the lease has remaining AND what the erms are: service/mamagement charges? repairs? conditions on use? access to gardens etc

Leasehold houses are rarer (though more common in the North I understand). There may well not be any service charges (you have full repairing responsibility and there may not be a 'communal' parts), but again you need to see he terms. You might need the freeholder's permission if you ever want to build/extend for example.

Yes your solicitor will check all this, but he'll charge for his work whether you buy or not.

A serious vendor with nothing to hide should provide basic answers though.

It's a bungalow. I haven't offered on it yet because the vendor's playing dumb and saying he just doesn't know anything about the lease, and he says my solicitor will sort out all those details - but I won't be instructing a solicitor unless I know more about the lease situation.

Looks like I'll have to walk away.:(

Road_Hog

zaksmum wrote: »

It's a bungalow. I haven't offered on it yet because the vendor's playing dumb and saying he just doesn't know anything about the lease, and he says my solicitor will sort out all those details - but I won't be instructing a solicitor unless I know more about the lease situation.

Looks like I'll have to walk away.:(

I would, there's a reason flats are leasehold, it's because there are many homes on one bit of land and it makes sense for one person to own the freehold, or at least it does when the flats are first built. The lease can always be 999 years which means effectively that you own the property permanently but someone else manages the building.

There's no good reason for a bungalow to be leasehold, other than for the freeholder who gets to sell it again every 99 years.

The owner is being deliberately obtuse about not knowing the length of the lease, if it is sold through an estate agent, they will have had to know the length of lease to value the property. Surely the property details have the lease details, if not, ask the agent. If this property is being sold privately or through Loot or some other non estate agent method, then run a mile.

Jariya

zaksmum wrote: »

It's a bungalow. I haven't offered on it yet because the vendor's playing dumb and saying he just doesn't know anything about the lease, and he says my solicitor will sort out all those details - but I won't be instructing a solicitor unless I know more about the lease situation.

Looks like I'll have to walk away.:(

I would also.

I loved the place I wanted..but I found something better, bigger, cheaper, with outside grounds and two floors....and with a 999 year lease.

zaksmum

Road_Hog wrote: »

I would, there's a reason flats are leasehold, it's because there are many homes on one bit of land and it makes sense for one person to own the freehold, or at least it does when the flats are first built. The lease can always be 999 years which means effectively that you own the property permanently but someone else manages the building.

There's no good reason for a bungalow to be leasehold, other than for the freeholder who gets to sell it again every 99 years.

The owner is being deliberately obtuse about not knowing the length of the lease, if it is sold through an estate agent, they will have had to know the length of lease to value the property. Surely the property details have the lease details, if not, ask the agent. If this property is being sold privately or through Loot or some other non estate agent method, then run a mile.

It is being sold with an EA but they also say they don't know the length of the remaining lease. They are saying why should I worry as it's "probably got years to run, we'll all be dead anyway!"