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share of freehold - pros and cons
emg
Posts: 1,390 Forumite
I have owned and lived in my leasehold flat for a couple of months. It's in a building of 3 flats. There is one other owner-occupier, the other flat is rented out. The landlord of the rented flat is keen for us to buy the freehold of the building in order to cut costs (service charge, lease extensions, ground rent, etc). He is estimating the cost to be around £10,000 between us. We currently each pay around £900 pa in ground rent/service charge/insurance. My lease is 82yrs, afaik the other two leases are the same.
I can see all the financial advantages of buying the freehold, especially if it is only going to be a few thousand pounds each, but on the other hand I have some worries about it too.
The landlord of the rented flat does not keep it in a particularly good state of repair. Damage caused by his tenants has previously been repaired by him on the cheap (ie bodged), including in communal areas. He has left a lot of rubbish around (old furniture, etc). Often saying he will sort it out but then never doing it. He is very obviously the type of landlord who wants to do everything as cheaply as possible.
I'm worried that if we did all buy a share of the freehold he would never agree to any work being done and it would be difficult to get him to pay up for things. As he doesnt live in the flat he wouldnt be directly affected by any problems. He tends to have very short term tenants so I doubt they would be putting pressure on him.
The owner of the other flat also has issues with him and doesnt want to buy the freehold - possibly doesnt really understand the process. He says that the landlord has tried to persuade him into this many times.
I would be interested to hear your opinions on what I should do. If I say no is there a possibility that he could just buy the whole freehold by himself? What are the avenues available if we did share the freehold and then have problems around maintenance?
I can see all the financial advantages of buying the freehold, especially if it is only going to be a few thousand pounds each, but on the other hand I have some worries about it too.
The landlord of the rented flat does not keep it in a particularly good state of repair. Damage caused by his tenants has previously been repaired by him on the cheap (ie bodged), including in communal areas. He has left a lot of rubbish around (old furniture, etc). Often saying he will sort it out but then never doing it. He is very obviously the type of landlord who wants to do everything as cheaply as possible.
I'm worried that if we did all buy a share of the freehold he would never agree to any work being done and it would be difficult to get him to pay up for things. As he doesnt live in the flat he wouldnt be directly affected by any problems. He tends to have very short term tenants so I doubt they would be putting pressure on him.
The owner of the other flat also has issues with him and doesnt want to buy the freehold - possibly doesnt really understand the process. He says that the landlord has tried to persuade him into this many times.
I would be interested to hear your opinions on what I should do. If I say no is there a possibility that he could just buy the whole freehold by himself? What are the avenues available if we did share the freehold and then have problems around maintenance?
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