Just found out house we're buying is leasehold. Help!

Bass_9

BBH123 wrote: »

Never buy a Leasehold house however if its a flat Leasehold is more common.

I used to have this mentality, but a leasehold house is not necessarily an issue.
If a property has a very long lease (900+ years) with a tiny 'peppercorn' ground rent, then it is unlikely there will ever be an issue. Many people on here seem happy to rubbish survey reports that hint at structural issues yet run for the hills at the mere mention of a leasehold property... The key is getting a good solicitor to carefully review the terms of the lease and explain to you any implications it brings. Then you can make an informed decision. I found that ruling out leasehold properties ruled out a good portion of my local housing market, but perhaps that is my area. It doesn't appear to affect prices in my area, as far as I've been able to tell.

One thing I would be cautious of is new build leasehold properties, they have a bad rep, and most of the time that is with good reason.

Bass_9

Prinzilla wrote: »

I called the EA back and asked him to enquire about buying the lease, either us directly or the vendor before we complete.
The facts of it are we didnt want to buy a house with a lease. While I believe it wasnt an intentional mistake we never would have gone ahead had we been told the correct information when I asked. While the money we’ve already paid out isnt a lot in the scheme of things I still refuse to lose money because the vendor was ‘confused’! If needs be we’ll withdraw and recover the money from her, I know it sounds harsh but I don’t see any other option if we cant get the freehold

Have you exchanged contracts?

If not I'd be surprised if you could recoup any costs.

Kernel_Sanders

When I bought my first house I'm pretty sure I just bought the freehold, which meant I owned the land and anything that happened to be built on it. You should have read up on this and insisted that any offer was to be for the freehold.

rinzilla wrote: »

no shared land though other than the driveway.

So who owns the driveway, and will they be able to dictate who uses it?

Red-Squirrel_2

Prinzilla wrote: »

If needs be we’ll withdraw and recover the money from her, I know it sounds harsh but I don’t see any other option if we cant get the freehold

That won't happen, so don't get your hopes up about that!

I'm afraid this is the nature of buying houses in the UK, nothing is guaranteed until exchange, and every penny you spend up until then is money you risk losing.

oystercatcher

Leasehold houses are quite common in the area where I live. It doesn't seem to affect prices or sale times much either. I bought and sold one previously with no problems and my current house was leasehold when I bought it. I bought the freehold a few years ago I can't remember in detail but I think it cost a couple of thousand plus solicitors fees . I seem to remember I had to have lived in the house for for three years before I could buy the lease and it took a few weeks for the solicitors to sort it all out so trying to get current owner to buy the freehold before your sale goes through could cause significant delays.

First leasehold house didn't have any ground rent payable, this house it was £5 per annum ! I believe some can be a lot more expensive though!

Best thing is to get your solicitor to look through the leasehold details and find out exactly what is involved and also whether you may be able to purchase the freehold and what likely costs would be. If you can buy the freehold in a few years and it is likely to cost X amount then this maybe can give you something to negotiate with on house price ?

zagubov

I'd give up and withdraw the offer.
How can you trust the EA or the solicitor again when they missed this big a flaw in the sale?

Asl77c

zagubov wrote: »

I'd give up and withdraw the offer.
How can you trust the EA or the solicitor again when they missed this big a flaw in the sale?

Why wouldn't you be able to trust the solicitor? They missed nothing from what i can read, they are the ones who pointed out it is a leasehold and potentially saved OP from an costly error.

Prinzilla

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

When I bought my first house I'm pretty sure I just bought the freehold, which meant I owned the land and anything that happened to be built on it. You should have read up on this and insisted that any offer was to be for the freehold.
So who owns the driveway, and will they be able to dictate who uses it?

What could I have read up on? I asked the vendor and EA before we put the offer in if the house was FH, they said yes so we proceeded on that basis.

Re the driveway I'm not sure, we're waiting to hear back from the solicitors but i'm guessing it will be whoever owns the land/has the lease.

Prinzilla

zagubov wrote: »

I'd give up and withdraw the offer.
How can you trust the EA or the solicitor again when they missed this big a flaw in the sale?

In fairness to the solicitor they did know. Like I said, they just mentioned it in passing because I was chasing the report. The EA didn't know until I told them yesterday and when they checked the file the vendor had stated it was FH. I don't blame them simply because they don't have an interest in the property itself, just the sale. I don't think they have to make checks before advertising, they just go off what the vendor tells them.

Prinzilla

Bass_9 wrote: »

I used to have this mentality, but a leasehold house is not necessarily an issue.
If a property has a very long lease (900+ years) with a tiny 'peppercorn' ground rent, then it is unlikely there will ever be an issue. Many people on here seem happy to rubbish survey reports that hint at structural issues yet run for the hills at the mere mention of a leasehold property... The key is getting a good solicitor to carefully review the terms of the lease and explain to you any implications it brings. Then you can make an informed decision. I found that ruling out leasehold properties ruled out a good portion of my local housing market, but perhaps that is my area. It doesn't appear to affect prices in my area, as far as I've been able to tell.

One thing I would be cautious of is new build leasehold properties, they have a bad rep, and most of the time that is with good reason.

The EA is confident the lease is with the HA who owns the other half of the property at present. Apparently they're a non profit organisation so he's said he thinks the rent will be minimal and they won't be able to sell it on.

We've requested a copy of the lease so will have to have a look at that before we decide anything.