Purchasing a flat with a 63 year lease.

clarkeycat

I've been flat hunting for the past few months, and I've finally found a place I really like and would like to make an offer on.

The property's value is £450k - I will be paying about £300k of the purchase price with cash, and the remaining £150 with a mortgage.

However, there's an issue. The lease on the property is currently 63 years. The vendor is in the process of acquiring the freehold, along with the leaseholders of the others 2 flats in the property, and intends to extend the lease to 150 years, which is obviously a much better situation.

My fear is that if I wait for this to happen (which could take months), somebody else will make an offer and get the place. What are my options? Does it seem likely that I'll get a mortgage agreed under these conditions? Am I able to get the vendor to guarantee the lease extension prior to purchase?

I realise it's quite a complicated situation, so any thoughts are very welcome - first time buyer so I'm learning all this as I go along.

kingstreet

Some lenders will accept this, some won't.

You need to ask your solicitor about having the lease extension included in the contract.

wantonnoodle

Could you not make an offer subject to completion of the freehold acquisition and lease extension (including inheritance of the freehold the vendor is acquiring).

I'm pretty sure I've heard of cases where lease extensions/freehold acquisitions have been done at the same time as the sale of the property, and the buyer gets the benefit. From what I've seen, generally, the freehold acquisition/lease extension transaction is given the same completion date as the purchase, so that everything is updated in one go.