Buying Freehold

Marto_2

HI ,
I have just recently found something which is very concerning to anyone wishing to buy there freehold.
I was quoted In June of 2004 the cost to buy the freehold was £3200
approx.

February 2007 I again enquired because I am now thinking of selling my
house and the quote has gone up to £12,300
+ Costs. When the leasholder was asked to justify this huge hike in
prices
this was the reply:

"unfortunately from a Lessee's point of view, a Lands Tribunal case was
published on the 15th September 2006, very
much in favour of Freeholders and I can only suggest that you take
professional advice. "

Now if the law has changed and the leaseholder can quadruple his price, in
the space of 2 years, surely as a tennant I and anybody else should have been informed before it changed so that we could have purchased the
freehold at the lower price.

Is there anything we can do or have I just got to accept this huge increase?

Marto

toonfish

surely if you think it's too expensive, just don't buy it?

Marto_2

I only have 47 years left on my lease so I need to buy it to sell the house, mortgage lenders want a minimum 50 years left on the lease.

Marto

imoneyop

Marto wrote: »

I only have 47 years left on my lease so I need to buy it to sell the house, mortgage lenders want a minimum 50 years left on the lease.

Marto

You don't need to buy the freehold. If you've lived there for at least 2 years, you should be able to apply to extend the lease for 90 years.

Marto_2

Does it cost a lot to extend the lease upto 90 years? As I said it's going to cost over £12000 to buy the freehold and I've been advised that if I don't buy it now, it could be £20000 next year.

Marto.

toonfish

youir solicitor should have sorted it out when you bought th eproperty - 47 years is not long enough and you could end up still living there when the lease runs out.

The cost of extending the lease depends on th eincreased value of the property - basicall the more it increase your property value, the more you will pay. This is why the cost will go up as the lease term gets shorter.

EdInvestor

Lots of info about lrease extensions and buying freeholds on this site, plus how they do the calculations on the price and the the court case last year.

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