Buying leasehold apartment no landlord, no maintainance agreement - opinions please!

skipfeeney

Hi All,

I am in the process of buying a leasehold apartment to use as a holiday home. The solicitor really really dosen't want us to proceed as the landlord has gone bankrupt three years ago and there is no maintenance agreement covering the block of 6 apartments. They have informed us we will have to sign a disclaimer to protect them if we still want to go ahead. My understanding of the issues around this are the following:


- There will be no block insurance (unless arranged by another lease holder)
- Apartment will be difficult to sell on (as its unmortagable)
- No one to deal with any issues such as burst pipes, other difficult leaseholders etc
- Difficulty in enforcing convents
- We will be liable to pay all building repair costs


On the plus side:

- I have writtend to the other apartment owners to find out if they have arranged insurance themselves (awaiting response)
- We have no desire to sell for at least 10 years (using it as the kids grow up)
- We will only be at the property every now and again so any issues with other leasholders shouldn't be too much bother.
- The price reflects the issues outlined above and the property is costing less then 35k (250 year lease on it too)
- We will be paying cash for the property - no mortgage required
- Ours is a ground floor apartment so shouldnt be affected by building issues too much (ie roof leaking etc)


In my mind it is worth taking a risk, but i would however like a second opinion from more seasoned property experts. Am i barking mad taking this on, or is it a fair risk?

Thanks Everyone

poppy10_2

You're barking mad. Listen to your solicitors.

skipfeeney wrote: »

We have no desire to sell for at least 10 years (using it as the kids grow up)

Circumstances can change. Illness, redundancy, divorce can all lead to people having to sell assets to make ends meet.

We will only be at the property every now and again so any issues with other leasholders shouldn't be too much bother.

That's a minus, not a plus. If you are not at the property much, you could easily be 'steamrollered' into accepting expensive repairs/maintenance contracts agreed to by the resident leaseholders.

Ours is a ground floor apartment so shouldnt be affected by building issues too much

You don't know much about building issues then. There's plenty of issues that would affect ground floor apartments more than higher ones.

propertyman

You are barking mad, unless you are willing to take it on and resolve the issues.

You cannot insure the other parts as you only own a flat.

A leaky roof means the water gets into the structure and that moves downward, and leads to wet and dry rot and mould behind the plaster.

You cannot insure against wear and tear, when the drains leak, who is going to replace them.

That cough your kids get in 2 years time that won't go away, your wife always feels washed out and sick, that's a mould infection.

The good news is that you can acquire the freehold or with the support of others take over management through the right to manage at no initial cost, or have an independent manager/recevier appointed.

DVardysShadow

skipfeeney wrote: »

- Difficulty in enforcing convents

Nun of this is good.

cattie

Another one here who think you must be barking mad, Woof woof!