Do I need a structural survey on a leasehold flat?

Bantex_2

AndyGuil wrote: »

The only thing the freeholder owns is the land. Even then that is technically owned by the Queen.

So in a block with say 5 leaseholders, who owns the external walls or the roof and chimney pots?

propertyman

AndyGuil wrote: »

The only thing the freeholder owns is the land. Even then that is technically owned by the Queen.

complete moron.

propertyman

Bantex wrote: »

So in a block with say 5 leaseholders, who owns the external walls or the roof and chimney pots?

according to him they all do. Said as much earlier but he's too dense to realise it

egoode

AndyGuil wrote: »

The only thing the freeholder owns is the land. Even then that is technically owned by the Queen.

You have clearly never bought a leasehold property. I'm in the process of buying one and the solicitor made it perfectly clear to me that if I broke the terms of my lease the freeholder could terminate the lease and take back the property. However that rarely happens and not that easy for them to do.

So I won't 'own' any of the property however I'm responsible for maintaining the inside of the flat to the plaster board the freeholder is responsible for the external repairs/maintenance but will charge me for it.

What I'm buying is the right to live there for 122 years which is the current length of the lease. If I don't extend the lease then at the end of the 123 years the freeholder will get the property back again.

Freecall

Leaseholders are just that. They are tenants and own nothing physical.

They do own the lease which they can sell or sub-let if the terms of the lease permit it.

In order to understand this it is worth remembering how this system developed. Until WW1 most people lived in privately rented housing. Between 1920 and 1945 more than a dozen significant pieces of legislation were passed which had the effect of improving tenant's rights by limiting rent increases and giving security of tenure.

Ultimately these changes cumulatively made the owning of freehold premises with tenants much less attractive for landlords.

In general however this legislation was aimed at short-term tenancies and did not affect long term arrangements. Many landlords offered long term tenancies or leases to their tenants which secured their rental income but moved the costs of maintenance to the tenant.

Many of these tenancies still exist today. Subsequent Acts of Parliament gave tenants the right to extend their tenancies and with a few additional changes along the way we arrive at the current position.

So there we have it, the only conceptual difference between a short-term rental and a leasehold property is the length of the lease.

Of course the legal framework of each has taken different directions but a leaseholder is a tenant, end of story.