Help my friend - I've NEVER heard of this before, is it legal?

Irratus_Rusticus

Ne'er a borrower or a lender be. Hamlet

Ah, the joys of house buying in England and Wales...

First time buyers save (or borrow/lend?) deposit and trawl agents for first home. Start choosing wallpaper and bird bath for the new garden.

The Consumer Protection Regulations (CPRs) require estate agents not to withhold or hide any material information, including tenure.

http://etsos.co.uk/trading-standards-issues-new-guidance-on-property-sales-for-estate-agents/

So that's okay, then, no worries.

Yet "Full" descriptions on selling websites still either avoid mentioning tenure altogether or say "Tenure to be verified by buyer" or some such.

Eager young buyers take no notice of this odd word "tenure" as they are buying their own house, aren't they. Instead they focus on the bedrooms, kitchen size and all things similar and jump for joy when offer accepted.

They engage a conveyancer and surveyor. Conveyancer mentions small matter of tenure and a lease right at last minute, saying something like "Here's your lease, have a wee read and ask me any questions." Doesn't give clause by clause advice on merits of lease as this would open a real can of worms. Nobody would buy leasehold!

Eager young buyers haven't a clue that they aren't actually buying a house, only a long lease allowing them to live in it. Full of mines for their future.

And we wonder why there are so many leasehold problems filling the courts? Yet nobody takes up the battle cry for leasehold reform. Where's a Martin Lewis when you need him on the telly?

Only England and Wales are this stupid.

OP. Good luck to your friends with that doozy.

Money_maker

Surely the friends' mother could be in trouble if she were to:


Need assessing for care.
Die.
Need to claim any means tested benefits.

GaleSF63

Stevie_Palimo wrote: »

I would take a guess a the OP is based in Northern Ireland or Scotland by saying they borrowed there friend money

Or Nottingham...

I grew up in Nottingham and it was common.

I've lived in Scotland for more than 20 years but don't recall hearing it here.

anotheruser

micky007 wrote: »

My best friend is buying a house and I've borrowed them the cash...

Here's your first error...

You have LENT them the cash.
They have BORROWED it from you.

SnooksNJ

csgohan4 wrote: »

Interesting choice of words, I shall quietly run away then, covering my back side while I'm at it

It's like 50 Shades of Grey on the MSE site.

AnotherJoe

No

Money_maker wrote: »

Surely the friends' mother could be in trouble if she were to:

Need assessing for care.
Die.
Need to claim any means tested benefits.

She'd definitely be in big trouble in the event of the second of those, yeh.

P.s those who say "leave it to the OPs friends solicitor", bear in mind they almost certainly are lying to the solicitor about the source of the money and its intended use as a loan.

Had the OP simply signed that it was a gift none of this subterfuge would be necessary. And if at some future date the OPs friends decided to repay, they could. Now, all parties are in trouble if this is discovered.

, I'd suggest they reverse this whole thing, OP then gifts the money, and the OPs friends buy a different house that doesn't have this busybody set of conditions. Although the odds are low that anyone would ever exercise them, Imagine what would happen if they did, a very large amount of money would be wiped off the value of the house, and even as they stand they will reduce the set of future buyers,

Only other option is to buy the freehold but it sounds as if that would financially be beyond the OPs friends. Whatever the cost of that is, could be regarded as a guide to how much these conditions devalue the house.