First Time Buyers Help! :(

travelhoppers

Hello,
Some advice needed please! First time buyers who are unsure.
We have seen a house we love, put in the offer.

We then asked the Estate Agents if it is a Freehold, she said it was (we have email proof) We also asked what would be left in the house if we matched the asking price (we have email proof of this also).

So our contracts came last week but we were not home and said we'd sign them on the weekend and agreed on a completion date of this week.

However, after getting home and opening our letter. We realized this is actually a Leasehold property with all the conditions of the lease. Our mortgage survey assumed it was Leasehold but because the estate agent said it was freehold, I thought they would know better because they would have asked the vendors?

Also, the contents form that was sent to us does not include the items that they said would be left if we matched the asking price.

Where do we stand with this? Is not knowing it is a leasehold property our fault? What can we do about the contents form?

We have minimal contact with our solicitor and always kept fobbed off by her secretary. Also, there is no face to face interaction so signing of contracts is done through post. Unfortunately, it was a estate agent recommendation so we will learn for next time.

Thank you

Davesnave

So you haven't signed or exchanged contracts yet?

In that case, you can pull out, or amend your offer accordingly.

Never believe anything an estate agent tells you, or trust a vendor to know what they are talkling about either. What you get is what's in the paperwork.

Edit: If you continue, there should be a time when you sit down, discuss the paperwork with the conveyancer and confirm that what's shown on the title plan is what you think you're getting. I wouldn't settle for less.

martindow

Estate agents pass on what they are told by the sellers and are not to be relied on. Many people would dismiss this house straight away as it is leasehold so you need to stop and reconsider what you want to do. Your decision (assuming you are willing to accept any sort of leasehold) is to look at how the charges increase in the future. Some with frequently doubling charges properties are a very unattractive prospect.

The contents issue is very much secondary to the leasehold terms. Do you know what the lease specifies?

travelhoppers

No contracts have been signed yet.

The lease is quite simple. It is £120 ground rent until 2030 and then up to £170 for the next 30 years. The maximum it goes upto is £320 in 60 years. There is about 970 years left on the lease.

The house has been extended and this was approved by the leaseholders.
One of the covenants on the lease was that there cannot be any satellite or aerial dish. However, it says they are leaving this on the contents form and a quick check on google maps shows they have added this on the extension...assuming the extension belongs to them and not the leaseholder?

It is also listed on zoopla.co.uk as Freehold too, which is quite surprising.

davidmcn

travelhoppers wrote: »

It is also listed on zoopla.co.uk as Freehold too, which is quite surprising.

It shouldn't be surprising, as zoopla shouldn't be relied on for anything.


(also bear in mind that every leasehold property has a freehold one "under" it, so transactions with the freehold may confuse matters when they appear on the registers)

Cakeguts

Send an email to the estate agents telling them that the property is leasehold and also telling them that they now must change the information on the advert on Zoopla and on all of their information regarding this property. If you don't buy it because you don't want leasehold you don't want anyone else to be misled on this do you?

It may have appeared to be "good value for money" which could be because it was valued as leasehold but then someone "copied" the leasehold wrongly. It may originally have read "virtual freehold." I have seen "virtual freehold" used for properties where the lease was originally 999 years rather than 120 years.

Anyway if you don't want a leasehold property don't buy it.