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

[Deleted User]

Someone else with problems of leasehold house on this forum, there are other thread but I cant find them at the moment

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5598202

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5598059

davidmcn

DoctorRN wrote: »

Worst case scenario and you had problems with squatters on the communal land, you could be paying 100s or 1000s on legal fees etc.

Ok, but that's more a problem with having an interest in land on which people might squat! You're going to have to deal with them somehow.

rtho782

davidmcn wrote: »

Ok, but that's more a problem with having an interest in land on which people might squat! You're going to have to deal with them somehow.

Not really, in my (1950s built) estate, the communal areas are owned by the council, and so their responsibility.

[Deleted User]

rtho782 wrote: »

Not really, in my (1950s built) estate, the communal areas are owned by the council, and so their responsibility.

On a privately owned estate the Freeholders will pay the bills then claim the money back from the Leaseholders.

davidmcn

rtho782 wrote: »

Not really, in my (1950s built) estate, the communal areas are owned by the council, and so their responsibility.

Yes, so you don't own an interest in the land.

Iguana

If you are buying a house buy a freehold house.

sparky130a

DoctorRN wrote: »

4. No alterations can be made to the propertywithout the permission of the developer.

5. House cannot be sold without permission of thedeveloper and payment of a fee – minimum £100 (no maximum).

Let's just focus on the two above for a second and the potential ramifications for any purchaser of a half million pound family home....

Covenents are one thing, these proposals are beyond the pale...

rtho782

davidmcn wrote: »

Yes, so you don't own an interest in the land.

But even on private newbuild estates that have freehold houses, they don't get the roads and spaces adopted by the council, instead they charge "estate charges" to the freeholders, who don't own any interest in the land.

[Deleted User]

sparky130a wrote: »

Let's just focus on the two above for a second and the potential ramifications for any purchaser of a half million pound family home....

Covenents are one thing, these proposals are beyond the pale...

Wow look at point 5 :eek:

Can you see it now you have to give us FH ders 40% OF YOUR SELLING PRICE for us to allow you to sell your own home.

alex_163163

DoctorRN, your post pretty much echoes the situation myself and my boyfriend find ourselves in!


The house were are looking at buying has pretty much the same clauses - same ground rent increase rate etc. Although I don't agree with houses being sold as leasehold, at least your clause isn't that it doubles every decade! That really is ridiculous.
However the reservation fee for our house was much lower at £250, so we decided to reserve (I know we may lose out on solicitors costs if we pull out though).
We are currently going through the conveyancing process, and our solicitor is trying to investigate the exact terms of the developer selling us the freehold now or in the future, and what restrictive covenants would remain even if we owned the freehold.


I know most people are telling you to run on this post, and I definitely agree you should be very cautious - it is a lot of money you are spending. But if you can, try to find out what restrictive covenants will actually remain. From my experience the salespeople at the sites do not have all the info by any stretch, so to trust their word that all the same clauses would still apply is not a good idea.
You need to see what remaining covenants will actually impact you. For instance if the ban on a van on the drive remains on ours, that is fine for us as neither have jobs where this is necessary.
However if it remains that we cannot extend in the future, this will need more thinking about.


Regarding maintenance fees, I think someone wrote earlier that even on freehold estates these days the maintenance fees can still apply, which I agree with. There is pretty much every developer in existence building around the town I live in at the moment, and a few are freehold but still have maintenance charges unfortunately.
We currently live in a flat and are paying £800 per year maintenance and it hasn't increased in 3 years (in fact I got a refund on the first year!). The fee at the new housing development starts at £131 per year, so to us that is actually a saving on staying where we are, at least initially anyway. Don't get me wrong it could go up but it could do where I currently live, so to me it's swings and roundabouts.


For me the biggest issue is will the house be saleable in the future if we choose to move in 10 years time. All the lease clauses that currently are in place are fine for us and we can agree to, but I am worried that we won't be able to sell it on.