Estate agent lied to me about length of lease - advice?

AdrianC

macman wrote: »

I doubt that the EA lied. They are dependent on the vendor for such info, and the vendor may have told them 'about 90 years'. Vendors frequently forget such details until the paperwork emerges.

This.

The EA is even quoted as saying that they didn't know, because the vendor hadn't told them. There's a big clue there in what the chain of information is when they say they do now know...

It is your solicitor's job to verify any information that you may find pertinent to the buying decision. They have done the job they are being paid for. Thank them. By all means, give the EA a shouting-at, but you can do no more than that. They rely on what the vendor tells them. Still, if the offer was particularly dependent on the lease being 90yr+, you have good grounds to ask to renegotiate the price for the cost of extending it. The vendor may, of course, refuse. You may, of course, then walk away.

A couple of quid on the Land Registry's website could have told you the exact length of the lease, before even viewing, if you were that bothered.

AdrianC

7sefton wrote: »

What does this all mean for me, if I want to renew? I.e. it doesn't seem like every share of freeholder needs to agree and renew the lease at the same time, otherwise there wouldn't be differing lengths of lease in the block, would there?

Remember, there's two hats involved.

Every flat owner has a "leaseholder" hat. With that on, they can request an extension of their own lease from the freehold company.

Every flat owner has a "freeholder" hat on. With that on, they own 1/40th of the freehold company, and can vote as to whether to extend a leaseholder's lease. If the vote is majority yes, the lease is extended. But, of course, there are legal mechanisms around renewal which the freehold company has to conform to.

Thrugelmir

7sefton wrote: »

She said she was still waiting for the exact length from the vendor but advised me it would be at least 90 years.

Then the EA didn't lie. The vendor appears to have supplied misinformation.

phill99

The estate agent hasn't lied to you. You have failed to undertakenproper due diligence!

ManuelG

phill99 wrote: »

The estate agent hasn't lied to you. You have failed to undertakenproper due diligence!

Surely they *have* undertaken proper due diligence, and that's why they've found out?!?

benjus

phill99 wrote: »

The estate agent hasn't lied to you. You have failed to undertakenproper due diligence!

That's a bit unfair, I think. In most cases (and especially if it's a seller's market) the buyer won't get to see the lease until an offer has been accepted and a solicitor instructed.

Richard_Webster

Sorry, I hasd got the impression that this was only 3 or 4 flats ina building. If it is a freholder company that all (or most of) the lessees have shares in, then it becomes more difficult because it is more bureaucratic. Someone or some company will be managing the block on behalf of the freeholders and that person or company will make the decisions in practice. Sure, the lessees can get together and call a meeting and appoint someone else but inertia usually rules and they don't, so the person/company managing has the effective say.

However the point still applies that the seller should be asking the question about terms for lease extension. The buyer (or better, his solicitors) can try to contact whoever is mananging the block to find out their attitude.

robatwork

I think you have made a mistake here by not confirming in writing or with Land Registry the length of the lease before you made an offer. It's as crucial as knowing how many bedrooms a property has and you wouldn't make an offer without knowing that.

I am sure you know to take everything an EA says with a pinch of salt - the best ones "puff" and the worst will tell you to your face it's Tuesday today.

7sefton

Thanks for all the helpful comments guys.

For those who are saying I've made a mistake / not done due diligence, maybe you've got a point. But I'm a first time buyer, in London, with a very tight budget, so perhaps I was a bit naive. However, when the EA explicitly told me to my face 'I need to confirm with the vendor, but there's definitely 90 years left' I consider this a lie.

AlexMac

I can't add to the advice above, but the good news is
- you like the flat
- it's a shared freehold (assuming it really is, so even if it's a biggish building with a managing agent, you still have some more control than if it was a profit oriented freeholder), but most of all
- its in SE London; (every property I ever owned over the past 20 years in this area has done really well; 4 different homes and 2 BTL flats, and the area continues to improve as transport links get better... whereas we've almost lost money on 2 places in other areas...)

As the websites say " It is possible for the seller, if they have owned the lease for at least 2 years, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer will not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease...." so if I was you I'd still go for it - good luck