mortgage offer says freehold but property leasehold...

TeamLowe

Hi
We were due to exchange yesterday but vendors solicitors have said that they've just realised that their mortgage offer says the house is freehold when it is leasehold and need to confirm with lender that they are OK to proceed

How likely is it that this is an Issue with a capital I? Will they need to wait for a whole new mortgage offer to come out or is it something the lender can say 'obviously a typo, go ahead' as presumably the solicitors would have told them its leasehold and the leasehold is x length

I realise this may depend on lender but any reassurance would be greatfully received

Unfortunately my vendors are out of the country getting married and won't be back til Monday if they need to do anything for it

Thrugelmir

Have you spoken to your conveyancer?

TeamLowe

Only for him to pass on the message, I didn't think there was much he can do until the vendors' lender says yes or no

Just thought someone on here may have experienced this before so could share their experience

mjm3346

How long is the remaining lease, a short one would be much more of a problem than a 999 year one.

TeamLowe

Unfortunately I don't know, I probably should clarify that this is the vendors onward purchase, so all I know is thats its a house and the general area, which is one where a lot of places have that token amount of ground rent- is it called peppercorn rent? Which I believe are usually very long leases indeed

kingstreet

In a worst case-scenario, it will have to be referred back to the surveyor to decide if the amended tenure makes any difference to the valuation.

holly_hobby

The offer will have to be amended, and the remaining term of the current lease verified - if a short term remaining there will be all sorts of issues.

Who's the lender ?

Holly x

chanz4

lucky you didn't exchange really, as may of been penalty if not completed on time

TeamLowe

Thanks all, we have the vendors number so hopefully on Monday when they're back they can answer the lease length question, which should hopefully give some reassurance that it is just a rewriting of offer.

Although it did make me check my offer when I got home and there doesn't seem to be a reference to the tenure. It's a nationwide one and only clue to tenure is 'ground rent: not known' when it's a freehold property

Chanz yes it's great that we didn't exchange although annoying that solicitors didn't check offer before, could have already had it sorted! The only reason exchange was meant to be yesterday as we threatened to pull out, so top of chain has agreed to go into rented as issue is with their purchase. Glad we did as we could've hung around for months for them to be ok then found this issue

Completion has been agreed for 27 September so hopefully we'll be able to keep to that. Although the cynic in me wonders if this is a delaying tactic...

holly_hobby

Nwide require a min term remaining of 55 yrs at application, with a min of 30 yrs remaining at the actual end of the mge term.

Bare in mind how a shortish lease will also affect your ownonward sale if not extended.

Hope this helps

Holly