Should I sell two flats as Leasehold or Freehold?

Hatrick24

I have two flats I wish to sell, a ground floor and first floor flat, that are in one half of a Victorian property. They are semi detached with a house on the adjoining side (not owned by me.)

I purchased them from a builder as leasehold and then the freehold was transferred to me at the same time at no further cost.

Owning both flats I have obviously just taken care of all maintenance issues as they have arisen, but am not sure of the best way to sell them and know very little about leasehold / freehold.

Should I sell them each as leasehold, or each with a share of the freehold, or some other way perhaps? I am assuming there is no benefit to me keeping the freehold?

Any advice would be very gratefully received, thanks!

knightstyle

It may be difficult for the purchaser to get a mortgage on a freehold flat, check this out before deciding what to do.
So set up a company and put the freehold in it, do the maintenance etc for a fee. If you don't want to do the work then offer the company to the buyers as a separate item from the flat purchase or sell it to one of the specialist companies who deal with this.

phill99

While there are truly freehold flats in the UK, it us a very rare thing and most lenders wont entertain them. Therefore you will need to sell them as leasehold flats with the benefit of being able to acquire a share of the freehold. This is quite a common arrangement.

agrinnall

phill99 wrote: »

While there are truly freehold flats in the UK, it us a very rare thing and most lenders wont entertain them. Therefore you will need to sell them as leasehold flats with the benefit of being able to acquire a share of the freehold. This is quite a common arrangement.

So how does that square with the situation in Scotland where there are (to the best of my knowledge) now no leasehold flats at all? People buying flats seem to get mortgages OK - I've had two myself, both from an English lender, so what would be their basis for discriminating against property buyers in England? I know that in practice the situation is what you say, I'm just interested to know how it can be justified.

phill99

agrinnall wrote: »

So how does that square with the situation in Scotland where there are (to the best of my knowledge) now no leasehold flats at all? People buying flats seem to get mortgages OK - I've had two myself, both from an English lender, so what would be their basis for discriminating against property buyers in England? I know that in practice the situation is what you say, I'm just interested to know how it can be justified.

Why are you having a go at me about it?

Scotland used to have a feudal tenure which is different.

You need to ask the lenders, not me. I guess its justified as you are not comparing eggs with eggs.

Hatrick24

Thanks so much for the replies. Really helpful, as always!

agrinnall

phill99 wrote: »

Why are you having a go at me about it?

Scotland used to have a feudal tenure which is different.

You need to ask the lenders, not me. I guess its justified as you are not comparing eggs with eggs.

I wasn't having a go, I just wondered if you knew as I've never had to get a mortgage in England and I thought your knowledge might be greater than mine. You might think that if money can be lent on a freehold property in Scotland that there shouldn't be an issue doing the same in England, but clearly there is.

phill99

agrinnall wrote: »

I wasn't having a go, I just wondered if you knew as I've never had to get a mortgage in England and I thought your knowledge might be greater than mine. You might think that if money can be lent on a freehold property in Scotland that there shouldn't be an issue doing the same in England, but clearly there is.

In certain, but limited parts of England, Freehold flats are quite common. Scarborough and the surrounding area is one such place. Therefore the Scarborough Building Society lend on freehold flats.

However if you wish to sell a flat in England you are simply better having it leasehold with a separate share of the freehold.