22 year lease on a rental property?

gingercordial

So they charge you £850/month rent but you are locked in for 22 years and have the obligation to repair the property, and you have to pay legal fees to enter into it.

Is there an upfront charge to buy the lease as well as the £850/month?

How does the £850/month + legals + upfront + potential repairs compare to a similar "normal" rental of a 3 bedroom property in that area?

fairy_lights

I don't understand what the benefit to the leaseholder/tenant would be.
You'd have to pay solicitors fees as well as the usual agency admin fees, you'd have to do your own repairs and although it says there is a 'three month notice option available', how would that work in reality? You'd have to sell the lease.
Would the freeholder also be able to give three months notice?

Abstaaarrrr

Pixie5740 and AdrianC thats the one��

HouseBuyer77

If you're considering it it would be worth getting a copy of the lease before you have to start paying lawyers etc.

That should give you answers as to when the landlord could kick you out, how repairs work (sounds like you're reponsible for all maintenance according to the advert, though maybe major works like the roof would be LL's responsibility), what happens if LL wants to sell etc.

Also get the title deed from the land registry. If it has charges on it then there's a third party that could reposses the house (if LL is unable to pay a debt) which could cause issues. I doubt they'd have a mortgage on it, suspect a lender would not allow this arrangement but they could have something else secured on it (maybe a private mortgage from a family member).

Abstaaarrrr

I have no idea how it would work at all. My partner spoke to an estate agent in the branch earlier and she didn't mention anything about buying the lease. He was given the impression that it's basically a way of getting a longer tenancy and we could do pretty much what we wanted with the house.
I'm kind of thinking it could be a good route for us (need to look into it in more depth first)
We've been looking at properties in this area for months now, and I would say that is a good price. I've seen much smaller two bed properties with no parking and even sometimes the access to the only bathroom comes off of the master bedroom for the same price if not more expensive. We have shown interest in a few properties before which have had a lot of interest from other people and never been accepted. I put it down to the landlord preferring working professional couples rather than a young family. We have also struggled to find properties because we have fish (several landlords wouldn't even accept fish. My partners first job was working in an aquatic shop, you could say they are his first love so he really doesn't want to get rid of them)
Currently on zoopla the cheapest three bed house in that area is £875 which is a terraced house with permit parking and located on a busy main road.
Me and my partner have debated many times over renting or buying. We couldn't buy unless we used the shared ownership scheme and I've been looking on here and many people advise to steer clear of the scheme.
I like the sound of a more secure long term tenancy. I was always a bit worried about the landlord deciding he wanted to sell the property as we have a young son and I would like a stable home and not having to move all the time. I also like the fact that we could decorate to how we wanted it and make it a home rather than clinical magnolia walls everywhere.

Abstaaarrrr

HouseBuyer77 wrote: »

If you're considering it it would be worth getting a copy of the lease before you have to start paying lawyers etc.

That should give you answers as to when the landlord could kick you out, how repairs work (sounds like you're reponsible for all maintenance according to the advert, though maybe major works like the roof would be LL's responsibility), what happens if LL wants to sell etc.

Also get the title deed from the land registry. If it has charges on it then there's a third party that could reposses the house (if LL is unable to pay a debt) which could cause issues. I doubt they'd have a mortgage on it, suspect a lender would not allow this arrangement but they could have something else secured on it (maybe a private mortgage from a family member).

Thanks for your reply. I'm assuming the estate agent would have a copy of the lease. How would I go about getting the title deed?

Abstaaarrrr

Has anyone got any ideas on how I could find out how much the legal fees would be?
We are totally new to all of this as we are looking for our first home.
Thanks

fairy_lights

Abstaaarrrr wrote: »

I also like the fact that we could decorate to how we wanted it and make it a home rather than clinical magnolia walls everywhere.

You would be able to decorate, but you'd also have to do all the repairs. Are you and your partner any good at DIY? The kitchen looks a bit dated. What would you do if the boiler gave up or there was a damp problem, would you have the funds to get it sorted out?

If I was looking for a property to rent I wouldn't even mention having fish. Unless the tank bursts they're not going to cause any damage to aren't a liability in the way a cat or dog is.

gingercordial

Abstaaarrrr wrote: »

I have no idea how it would work at all. My partner spoke to an estate agent in the branch earlier and she didn't mention anything about buying the lease.

You need to find this out before you do anything else. If there's an upfront cost it'll make the financial decision very different.

Will the monthly rent be locked in for the whole 22 years or will there be increases? How will these be governed?

I like the sound of a more secure long term tenancy. I was always a bit worried about the landlord deciding he wanted to sell the property as we have a young son and I would like a stable home and not having to move all the time.

I appreciate you wanting to have somewhere secure (I've just moved for the third time in two years and it's hellish) but to commit yourself to a rental property for 22 years is going to the other extreme. Are you sure you would be allowed to exit or sell the lease if you needed to move (horrible neighbours, work relocation, needing to be near elderly parents, divorce?) and how that would work and how much it would cost? Would you need to find a "buyer" yourself to take the remaining lease on from you, or could you really exercise the break clause mentioned and walk away? If so are you happy to lose all the money you might have put in for legals, repairs and renovations? Is the landlord also able to exercise the break clause and therefore do you really have security?

booksurr

Abstaaarrrr wrote: »

Has anyone got any ideas on how I could find out how much the legal fees would be?
We are totally new to all of this as we are looking for our first home.
Thanks

its non standard so the only way you can get an idea is to ask a solicitor

sounds more like you would need a solicitor to write/vet the terms of the lease from your point of view and advise you accordingly. That will not be at a standard conveyancing fee rate