Buying a leashold house,- should we just walk away? Advise please.

sparky130a

getmore4less wrote: »

This needs a full list of everything you will be responsible for.

What is to be retained or adopted, what is included in your list and the list of properties you will be sharing the costs with, any social housing in the list sharing your costs alarm bells
eg. if they keep the street lights you will be paying.
you could be responsible for the upkeep of a play area you never use.

What if there is a dispute over the developer not doing their job properly on the shared stuff and the substandard work become chargeable in the service agreement to maintain.

What if they change the development from reserving to completion and what you end up being responsible for is different.

Older freehold estates will have covenants stopping things but those with the vested interests move onto their next development so don't bother, we had no sheds in the gardens, everyone has a shed now, loads of other developer(keep the place pretty) covenants are forgotten

A development with a freeholder and management company far too risky.

Some types of setups need this type of arrangement

I take your point, But at £550,000 i don't even expect a covenent to restrict me p1ss1ng in my pond.

And no, i don't even care if that's London. (Which at 5 bed i doubt it is very much )

deFoix

W a l k a w a y !

getmore4less

sparky130a wrote: »

I take your point, But at £550,000 i don't even expect a covenent to restrict me p1ss1ng in my pond.

And no, i don't even care if that's London. (Which at 5 bed i doubt it is very much )

We have an older one (pre development) that makes us jointly responsible for the maintenance of a well.
Know one has a clue where it is.
Another restricts us from manufacturing munitions.

.............
restrictions are one thing, but my main point really was there is a black hole of potential cost if you don't have a fully documented list of what you are responsible for.

Even if they do nothing they can still charge for invoicing every 6 months.

davidmcn

Good luck finding any newbuild property which doesn't have a service charge regime and/or title restrictions similar to the ones the OP has quoted, irrespective of the type of tenure.

Winter_Phoenix

Walk away. Otherwise you will be leasing a money pit, with random restrictions and potentially major problems when you want to sell.

DoctorRN

I can cope with some restrictions such as having to keep the outside tidy and maintained and no commercial vehicles. However, owning the freehold and then having to gain permission to make alterations or sell the property and the pay for that privilege is a bitter pill to swallow. That is not freehold. In the old days, there may have been restrictions on new developments, but as others have posted these were usually forgotten when the developer moved on. Nowadays you have greedy private companies that buy the ground rent portfolio and watch everything you do and then charge for it. Also, I would happily pay a service charge if it was a fixed charge or outlined what it included, but this is not the case. For all I know, they could charge £200 to change a lightbulb and you have no grounds to dispute. Worst case scenario and you had problems with squatters on the communal land, you could be paying 100s or 1000s on legal fees etc. There is just no knowing until the bill arrives.

rtho782

All the restrictions they place on leaseholders via the lease they will place on freeholders via restrictive covenants. It makes no difference.

As a freeholder, you don't even have any right to challenge unfair service charges so you're even worse off.

Don't buy a new build.

glasgowdan

Even money aside, the principle of being told what to do with my home would stop me ever considering this.

This concept will remain as long as there are enough idiots willing to buy the houses.

[Deleted User]

Run as fast as your little legs will carry you.

This issue of Leasehold houses is all over the news at the moment and the mess some people are caught up in is so bad the Government is stepping in to try and get the practice stopped.

Really do yourselves a favour and walk away because it could be one of the worst financial decisions you make.

There are plenty of lovely freehold properties out there.

Also think about when you come to sell yourself, I cant see many people buying it off you.

AnotherJoe

Half a million quid, a boat load of restrictions and unknowable costs, and you can't even sell it without kowtowing to them!

Tell them they are avIn a giraffe and you have put your walking boots on, because there's no way you'll get all these restrictions lifted, even if they will bend on one or two it doesnt fix the basic problem.

Unfortunately some other mug will buy this house (or all these complexities would never be commercially worth their while), but at least it won't be you.