what to do with maisonette with short lease

want2bmortgage3

i have recently got back possession of my maisonette which has a short lease of 65 years. i have a mortgage of 85k / 450 a month with 23 years left.

although i had done it up quite nicely several years ago, due to renting it out and previous damp problems it is looking rather tired again.

if the tenants were private they wouldn't have got the deposit back the state it is in, but because it was council tenants and no deposit i can't do anything now except clean it all again myself.

the property is not somewhere i want to live myself so i am trying to decide what to do with it.

i have no pension arrangements so at the moment this is the only investment i have.

i have 3 totally different ideas:

1. tidy up the place and rent it out again via an agent. this would see me out as i'd be close to 100 when the lease expires. in the meantime i can collect an increasing amount of rent as an income and retirement plan.

2. extend the lease and sell. buy somewhere i want to live in and concentrate on clearing the mortgage.

3. extend lease, sell, then rent / share (i am single so not a problem) and put the money in savings accounts. when i have enough savings, then buy a property outright.

any ideas people????

Guest101

Why did the council not give a deposit for their tenants?

Anyway I would extend the lease, rent it out and sell when you need to, in order to get your own place.

Yorkie1

I'd extend the lease, irrespective of other decisions. You can't predict what life will throw at you in the future, and if circumstances mean you need (or want) to sell up, you're going to struggle for buyers and for a decent sale price because of the lease. The sooner you do it, the less it will cost you.

tim123456789

BernieW wrote: »

What you do about a short lease - is difficult to comment upon where you don't know the full facts of the case. However as a general rule extending is normally a good idea, provided you can afford it. And the cost is not always as great as you may think.

But an unexpired term of 23 years is really quite short - .

The lease has 65 years (still short but not a disaster)

it's his mortgage that has 23