Buying Freehold confusion?

MissTasmanian

Apologies, I know there’s been numerous threads about buying the freehold on this forum, but I am still slightly confused. It appears, relatively, straightforward to redeem the ground rent but I am confused as to whether you own the freehold once you've redeemed the ground rent?

The guide on the ni.gov site has this to say:

“Once you have bought out (redeemed) your ground rent, you own the freehold and are no longer obligated to pay a ground rent”

But then it goes on to suggest that you should register your freehold.

Does this mean that you do own the freehold when you redeem your ground rent but the leasehold convents still apply, and/or when you come to sell the property it’s still registered as a leasehold?

Would anyone be able to clear this up?

https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/articles/how-you-can-redeem-your-ground-rent

RikM

As I understand it, the covenants will still apply, whatever you do. Buying the freehold doesn't change them.
So if (for example) you have a covenant which prevents you building a wall, it will still be there. It's not dependent on the leasehold.

MissTasmanian

Thank you!

I am not too concerned with the covenants but I was wondering if after I redeem the ground rent I can sell the house as a freehold in the future or would it still be a leasehold?

RikM

So far as I know (again ), once you've redeemed the ground rent, you can't sell the property separately (sell the lease and keep the freehold). The legislation was designed to simplify the whole shebang. The difference is likely to be in the paperwork.
Effectively it's freehold.

I guess registering the lease and redemption together may make selling a little easier. As it would come up together on a search.

For the cost of another form and £200(?), registering the freehold doesn't seem like a big deal. It may need to be done at selling time, if not before.