Leasing land on a freehold property - please help?!

kingkatie95

Hi all

New to this so please go easy.
We are currently in the process of exchanging on a new build property in Newcastle. After reading over the contract with a fine toothed comb it has come to our attention that the property management company (which we were aware of a £100 a year charge) have included all of these clauses that are alien to us. I am now very nervous about what this entails as the more I read the more this is starting to sound like a lease. Can a freehold property sit on leased land? My conveyancer isn’t being much help and I’m now very concerned about what this holds down the line. There’s no escelation procedure not anything that says the fee rise is capped - can anyone advise or is in a similar situation?
Thanks

NeilCr

I have a freehold house on an estate. I own the house and there is a separate freehold for the land all the proprieties lie on. This used to be owned by the developer but has now passed to all the residents.

I have the same clauses/covenants as the leaseholders on the estate have. It's not unusual. I am guessing you are referring to things like parking, Sky dishes, washing lines, changes to the property etc etc.

You are right that the service charges can go up and, if the residents don't own the communal freehold, you will have no control on the amount. It's a question about if you can live with that and the various clauses/covenants.

It works for me but my partner (who lives separately) wouldn't stand for it.

AlexMac

The most worrying thing about your question is the statement...

kingkatie95 wrote: »

...My conveyancer isn!!!8217;t being much help and I!!!8217;m now very concerned about what this holds down the line...

That's not acceptable. Their most important job is to check the title, leases and any other legalities and explain it to you (along with other stuff like searches and standard enquiries.

If they can't do that you need to raise a formal complaint vai their internal process with a view to escalating it and maybe changing to a proper, more competent solicitor. Sorry to sound dramatic, but this is the most expensive and important purchase of your life.

To illustrate from our own experience;
- on one purchase, our Solicitor's conveyancing clerk was so picky that she pointed out what we considered a trivial inconsistency in the title, lease and land registry red-lined plan; a couple of square meters of lowered terrace adjacent to our house which was described variously as our own property, or a communal area. We said; so what, it's been like that for years, and no-one else will ever actually want to come down and sit outside our windows? But she made the point that when we came to sell on, any fault in the title could prove a negotiating point for an aggressive buyer. So she got a deed of variation at the buyer's expense.

My mate got a reduction of several thou' by discovering a similarly trivial spatial glitch in the lease of a converted 2-flat house and playing hardball in the negotiation.

Our kids were buying a leasehold terraced house; where the only lease was one dated about 1900 for the whole field on which the houses were built; nothing site-specific. It had bought and sold like that for over 100 years, but our solicitor, who they used, insisted it get sorted, or subsequent buyers could be put off. Although it delayed the sale for a couple of months and cost a couple of grand, they now own a conventional freehold.

So get the conveyancer to change their approach- or change them

kingkatie95

Thanks so far for your responses. My main concern is that my contract states that I have to ask permission from the property mgt company if I want to sell in the future - it also makes no sense to be paying maintenance charges, Council Tax AND a parish charge?! The whole thing seems very strange

NeilCr

kingkatie95 wrote: »

Thanks so far for your responses. My main concern is that my contract states that I have to ask permission from the property mgt company if I want to sell in the future - it also makes no sense to be paying maintenance charges, Council Tax AND a parish charge?! The whole thing seems very strange

The asking permission from the property management company is pretty standard.

You pay maintenance charges because the land where your property stands is not maintained by any councils. Not sure what your service charges will cover but could include gardening, road maintenance, etc etc . To be honest £100 per annum is pretty low.