Asking for a lease copy before buying a flat?

jamesbrown457

Is it legal to ask for a copy of a lease prior to making an offer? Any help appreciated.

theartfullodger

It's easier and quicker to buy it direct from land registry, £3. Tells you name of owner & if any mortgage & from whom.
https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Might as well buy freehold deeds also & see what they say.

eddddy

jamesbrown457 wrote: »

Is it legal to ask for a copy of a lease prior to making an offer? Any help appreciated.

Yes - it's entirely legal to ask for a copy of the lease.

It's an unusual request. It might reassure sellers if you explain why you want it.

And they are sometimes difficult documents to copy - I have one which is a 33 page bound book, and another which is 20 pages of foolscap. I wouldn't want the hassle of scanning/copying them if I thought somebody was a "time waster".


You can probably get a copy from Land Registry as well - by filling in form OC2. (You can't download leases online - only copies of the Title Register can be downloaded online.)

bouicca21

I see no reason why you shouldn't ask to see it - it will enable you to check the length of the lease, the ground rent, both of which are notoriously mis-cited by EAs.

I'd have no problem producing mine, nor would I have a problem documenting the service charge demands.

if you buy your conveyancer will want sight of these documents, better to find out about potential problems before incurring any costs.

G_M

Definately illegal to ask.

Property Purchase (lease Access) Act 1972

Fine of up to £300 in a magistrates court or 6 months prison if it goes to Crown Court.

eddddy

G_M wrote: »

Definately illegal to ask.

Property Purchase (lease Access) Act 1972

Fine of up to £300 in a magistrates court or 6 months prison if it goes to Crown Court.

But that's only in England and Wales.

In Scotland, it's far more serious.

theartfullodger

eddddy wrote: »

But that's only in England and Wales.

In Scotland, it's far more serious.

Aye:

You need to read the Leases Act 1449, still on the statute book..
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aosp/1449/6/contents

Item it is ordanit for the sauftie and fauour of the pure pepil that labouris the grunde that thai and al vthiris that has takyn or sal tak landis in tym to !!! fra lordis and has termes and yeris thereof that suppose the lordis sel or analy thai landis that the takaris sall remayn with thare takis on to the ische of thare termes quhais handis at euir thai landis !!! to for sic lik male as thai tuk thaim of befoir . . .

I think that's clear.

It's caught many a person out who'd bought a property in Scotland and not realised it's implications....

Slàinte mhath!

PS For MSE to censor the wording on a perfectly valid & extant Act of Parliament is surely treason: Someone should be flogged! Come all, come one!

G_M

Censoring an Act of Parliament is surely contrary to the Freedom of Information Act.....

eddddy

G_M wrote: »

Censoring an Act of Parliament is surely contrary to the Freedom of Information Act.....

In fact, I think you'll find it's also an offence under the Treason Act 1351 (as amended):

Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; committing adultery with the sovereign's consort, with the sovereign's eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the throne; levying war against the sovereign and adhering to the sovereign's enemies, giving them aid or comfort; attempting to undermine the lawfully established line of succession; and censorship of any of the sovereign's acts of parliament in any electronic media, including, but not limited to, user forums on the worldwide interweb net.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_treason_in_the_United_Kingdom

I think somebody might be facing the death penalty for this.

lessonlearned

I recently put in an offer for a flat which was accepted.

I asked the EA for a copy of the lease because I wanted to make sure that I was happy with the terms and conditions. I was furnished with a photocopy, there were no redactions or omissions.

The EA was not fazed when I asked and complied quite happily with my request. If he was surprised then he certainly didn't show it.

Upon reading the terms and conditions of the lease I decided not to go ahead with the purchase because I found some of them unacceptable.

It then got sold subject to contract again but I noticed that the subsequent sale was aborted too. Several months later the same apartment is still on the market, as are a couple of others in the same block so I'm guessing I'm not the only would be purchaser who has had second thoughts.

As a matter of interest this year is the first time that any of these apartments have come onto the market since they were built in 2000 and as far as I can tell none of them has been sold on yet. The whole block was originally purchased by a single investment company.

I know that some lenders are wary of apartments so maybe this might be an issue. However as a cash buyer I was I unaffected by any lending criteria but still wanted to do "due diligence".

I would not dream of buying a leasehold property without first ensuring I was 100 per cent happy with the lease and this means reading it for myself. I know we pay solicitors to check leases for us but I see no reason why a purchaser should be denied sight of a copy of a lease..

Caveat Emptor and all that.

theartfullodger

eddddy wrote: »

In fact, I think you'll find it's also an offence under the Treason Act 1351 (as amended):.....

I see the Treason Act 1351 also covers....
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw3Stat5/25/2/section/II

Declaration what Offences shall be adjudged ...etc etc etc.... killing the Chancellor, ....

Dang! There was I, behind a long queue, planning on bumping off boy George.... Curses!