Leasehold, but self maintained maisonette?

hampshiredave

Hi guys and gals,

myself and my partner are looking at a first time buy in hampshire, and have stumbled across a purpose built ground floor one bed maisonette built by wimpey homes in 1981.

Now, there is a 970 year lease, peppercorn ground rent, and the property is classed as "self maintained".

I understand that peppercorn rent means there is nothing to pay, but i am unsure about two things. Firstly, I thought flats generally had 99 or 125 year leases on them, yet this maisonette has 999 years from 1978.

Secondly, from an insurance point of view, would I need building insurance? I presume that self maintained means the occupiers are responsible for the upkeep of their portions of the property (in my case a lovely landscaped garden and conservatory :T ), but were anything to happen to the roof for arguments sake, who would pay?

Im probably overconfusing issues here, but do I need buildings insurance for my half? Does the guy upstairs have buildings insurance for his half so if the roof goes he pays?

Confused, but its a perfect place for us, and if it is a simple answer, I will get an offer in!

Thank You in advance,

Dave

mr.broderick

This is the 3rd dave this evening with a relatively new post...?

Sortof this is unnerving me...

babydaisy

It's a tricky one and a lot of lenders will not be happy to lend money on a flat without a maintenance company for all the reasons that you outline.

You would have to speak to your mortgage lender about it - most people who buy these are cash buyers as a lot of lenders won't lend full stop.

Then get your solicitor to take you through the lease very carefully and point out all the potential pitfalls so you are fully aware of the situation re maintenance insurance etc

CB1979_2

self-maintained or self-contained?

either way I'm pretty sure the freeholder will take care of the buildings insurance and the solicitor will indeed take care of all that, as Tom Jones says "It's not unusual" to have a 970 year lease, basically means the flat will never be undervalued due to a short lease (except in another 900 years! lol)

It will say in the lease with regards to maintenance issues, but usually it's an even split, my place I'm on the ground floor, but if any work needs doing to the roof, fire escape, etc (these do not affect me in anyway) I have to pay an 8th equal share, whereas if i get damp the other flat leaseholders will also have to pay their share, even though it won't affect them.

and usually you will be responsible for the upkeep of the internal gubbings of the property.

hampshiredave

self-maintained.

The building is made of 4 flats/maisonettes; two top, two ground, side by side. That doesnt sound too bad at all then. I would assume then that any work claimed would be divided equally between the four of us.

Point of concern with BabyDaisy though; is that general practice; that mortgage companies dont take on self-maintained leaseholds?

Reason I ask is, the estate agent should have know this, and I feel pointed this out when we viewed, knowing damn well we were first time buyers?!

Doozergirl

I've had two flats like this

You need to purchase your own buildings insurance and you should check the terms of the lease to see who is responsible for what. It may be that downstairs is responsible for damp, upstairs for the roof, or simply that you split everything between you. In my experience it has been split between flats.

My solicitor pointed out that it was out of the norm to buy with terms such as this but both lenders (different but both subsiduries of Halifax) had no problems at all with lending.

I'd check through the lease yourself and also ask your solicitor, if it were them buying, would they proceed. You get the easy answer that way

Feanor

We are currently in the process of a buying a 2bed ground floor maisonette also, but in Surrey. Ours also has a 900 odd year lease so its not that unusual.

We have had no problems with the mortgage whatsoever, i think the person who said above that mortgage lenders wont lend of these kinds of properties has been mis informed. There are loads of properties like this, and lots for sale..lots we have viewed and no one has ever told us its not mortgage-able!

We also dont have a maintenance company thank god, its the best way as alot of them rip you off. Self maintained is the best way to be imo.

We are still waiting to see the lease details from our solicitor, but all the issues with roofs/damp etc will be in their.

Also dont forget, you can enquire about buying the freehold along with the other 3 occupants. I think maisonettes like this are much better than being in a block of many more flats with more issues to contend with.

If you do a search of the forums on here for 'maisonette lease' you may find some useful answers..

Also, the buildings insurance may have to be taken with the freeholder, or may not..but again will be in the lease. Ask the EA to give more details, he should be able to get this from the vendor?

Good Luck!