Help! Selling leasehold property 49 years on lease.

gemsquash1984

Hello,

I'm helping my mother who wants to sell her property and move into sheltered accommodation. We have found out there is only 49 years left on the lease. She thought that the lease had been extended when she bought it 2006. Amongst her paperwork on the seller's information form there is mention of the lease being extended and paperwork to be forwarded, however I have checked the land registry and it hasn't been done.

I don't understand how she got a mortgage in the first place? And surely her conveyancer should have explained what having such a short lease would mean? What options are there from here? She has an outstanding mortgage which ends way past her retirement age and she has no money to extend the lease.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

dancingfairy

I guess the first thing to clarify is whether the lease should have been extended at the time. Was it agreed as part of the sale, etc?
Was the price your mum paid based on the understanding the lease had been extended / was due to be extended as part of the process?
I guess you need to get hold of all the correspondence and notes from the time and dig through it/ take it to a solicitor to see whether you have a case against the first solicitor.
I'm not sure the best way of going about it though. I don't know whether it's best just to approach the original solicitors/ conveyancers yourself to find out whether it's a simple error or whether that is likely to cause more problems ( ie if they realise theyve made a mistake and start covering themselves)?
Df

flambo33

Hi, try this link to work out the cost of a lease extension

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/extend-your-lease

then depending on the cost you may have to take it off the property value to entice a buyer in, they may want a bigger reduction than the actual cost as it's going to be hassle to them. The other option would be to do it yourself prior to selling

gemsquash1984

I tried the calculator and it doesn't work when lease is that short, which doesn't bode well!!! We've already contacted solicitor, it's been over a week and no response. There is no correspondence referring to the lease apart from in the seller's information. My mom paid the full market value for the property so it's not as if she got it cheap due to the short lease. I just can't understand how she hasn't been advised in relation to this at all, she didn't have a clue the lease was short! She has never paid any ground rent since she has lived there, which is strange.

Hoploz

It will be a lot. A flat I looked at had 42 years and was in region of 20-25k to extend.

Get back on to the original solicitor to see what they can tell you.

Have you go the 49 year info direct from the freeholder? Weird they haven't asked for any ground rent but perhaps it was on peppercorn rent?