Extension Permission for Leasehold House

G_M

SMT1985 wrote: »

G_M – I'm unaware of anyone else owning the freehold so I assume it's still the Simpsons and/or Peter Nicholas.

Surely as part of the pre-puchase investigation you and/or your solicitor identified the current freeholder?

If not, for £3 you can buy the freehold Title document here and find out.

anselld

The risk is that you would be building a loft conversion in property you do not own (the loft) and you would be in a weak position to rectify that tarter the fact.

Also you would be rebuilding a roof you are presumably not solely responsible for maintaining at your own expense.

And finally, doing all that without permission would ,Aked the flat fairly un-sellable because the necessary permission would be the first thing and purchaser would check.

When you do request permission, yes you should expect a fee, not less because you need to add the loft space to your lease (aka purchase it).

eddddy

anselld wrote: »

The risk is that you would be building a loft conversion in property you do not own (the loft) and you would be in a weak position to rectify that tarter the fact.

Also you would be rebuilding a roof you are presumably not solely responsible for maintaining at your own expense.

And finally, doing all that without permission would ,Aked the flat fairly un-sellable because the necessary permission would be the first thing and purchaser would check.

When you do request permission, yes you should expect a fee, not less because you need to add the loft space to your lease (aka purchase it).

It's a house, not a flat, so a lot of what you say wouldn't apply.

Except that I agree that it may cause a big headache when the house is sold. The buyer might refuse to proceed without retrospective consent from the freeholder for the loft conversion.

StumpyPumpy

Once you have identified the Freeholder, have you considered asking if they want to sell it? My parents did this on their house which had a peppercorn rent and a 999 year lease a few years ago and it didn't cost much at all. I think the freeholders were glad to see the back of it!

SP

SMT1985

Ideally we will buy the freehold but I don't believe you can do that until you've lived in the property for 2 years.

StumpyPumpy

SMT1985 wrote: »

Ideally we will buy the freehold but I don't believe you can do that until you've lived in the property for 2 years.

You're confusing the statutory right to extend a lease as given in the Leasehold Reform Housing & Urban Development Act 1993 (which on a 999 year lease you do not need to consider until you are approaching your 850th birthday ) with a simple financial transaction where you buy the freehold.

You can buy a freehold at any time if the current freeholder agrees to sell it to you. They can even sell it to someone else who doesn't live in the house or have any leasehold agreements if they so wish.


SP

macman

You'll be potentially storing up a whole heap of grief come resale time.
And you haven't revealed how you managed to get PP without the freeholder being informed?
They might (or might not) demand an exorbitant fee if you ask for permission to do the work, but the potential cost of doing it without permission would make that fee seem like small beer (i.e. potentially the cost of removing the dormers and loft conversion to their former state).