Buying flat — Lease is less than advertised

yakob

I'm in the process of buying a flat and I've just discovered that the time remaining on the lease is less than was advertised.

I had my offer of £210,000 accepted almost three months ago (Sept 2016). The estate agent's material stated, "we understand there is 118 years remaining on the lease". The use of the word 'understand' concerned me so I spoke to the vendor directly and she said that when she'd bought the flat 7 years previously, she had asked for the lease to be extended by 25 years and it had been — for free! She was a bit vague about this though and said I should check it.

My solicitor just informed this week that it's actually 95 years.

My solicitor is double checking with the vendor's solicitor that the lease wasn't extended by the 25 years, but presuming it wasn't, any advice on what to do?

Obviously there isn't any real urgency to extend at 95 years but I don't know my plans for the future in terms of how long I'll be at this flat so I would like to extend it. Is it worth asking the vendor to start the lease ball rolling now so that I don't have to wait the two years? Or should I leave it and ask for money off of the purchase price? Or both? If so, how much, assuming a lease extension would cost around £5000? My offer was based on a flat with 118 years remaining on the lease, not 95 years. Is it fair to ask for the full £5000 estimate or should we split it between us?

Thanks!

glentoran99

yakob wrote: »

I'm in the process of buying a flat and I've just discovered that the time remaining on the lease is less than was advertised.

I had my offer of £210,000 accepted almost three months ago (Sept 2016). The estate agent's material stated, "we understand there is 118 years remaining on the lease". The use of the word 'understand' concerned me so I spoke to the vendor directly and she said that when she'd bought the flat 7 years previously, she had asked for the lease to be extended by 25 years and it had been — for free! She was a bit vague about this though and said I should check it.

My solicitor just informed this week that it's actually 95 years.

My solicitor is double checking with the vendor's solicitor that the lease wasn't extended by the 25 years, but presuming it wasn't, any advice on what to do?

Obviously there isn't any real urgency to extend at 95 years but I don't know my plans for the future in terms of how long I'll be at this flat so I would like to extend it. Is it worth asking the vendor to start the lease ball rolling now so that I don't have to wait the two years? Or should I leave it and ask for money off of the purchase price? Or both? If so, how much, assuming a lease extension would cost around £5000? My offer was based on a flat with 118 years remaining on the lease, not 95 years. Is it fair to ask for the full £5000 estimate or should we split it between us?

Thanks!

Have you costed this?

Notnow

A lease extension is very likely to cost a lot more than £5000. I've been through all this lately and people will often say it was only £500 to extend it for 50 years or that it was free blah blah. What they don't tell you is that the legal bills for extending the lease will be at least £4000.

You might think 95 years is a lot but that's pretty low and it will need doing urgently. For every year that passes it costs more to extend it. I'm no expert but one thing I have learnt over the last few weeks is to get a long lease right from the start because extending them takes ages and costs a lot.

marksoton

Notnow wrote: »

You might think 95 years is a lot but that's pretty low and it will need doing urgently. For every year that passes it costs more to extend it.

No it isn't at all.

A lot of properties only start with 99 years.

OP i'd be cautious. If the vendor is that clueless you don't know what else may be ahead.

TrickyDicky101

marksoton wrote: »

No it isn't at all.

A lot of properties only start with 99 years.

OP i'd be cautious. If the vendor is that clueless you don't know what else may be ahead.

And if the vendor did originally extend the lease and the extension was free (as stated) then be very wary of what additional terms/costs may have been agreed to (eg escalating Ground Rent clauses) which could materially impact on future saleability.

Hoploz

95 years is not a problem. How long do you plan to stay? If short term don't worry about it, but if you're planning to stay then if it has 80 years or less when you come to sell it'll cost more due to marriage value.

I'd be surprised if your seller is going to want to deal with the hassle of extending a lease which really doesn't need to be done.

Always read the lease to check terms, especially what you're expected to pay and how this will increase over time.