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First Time Buyer, Leasehold/freehold confusion
mpr87
Posts: 54 Forumite
Hi All,
Sorry if this gets a bit long winded or confusing.
Myself and my Girlfriend have just put an offer in on a house. Not accepted but it's a reasonable offer and I am just doing my homework so that if it is accepted it can hopefully go as smoothly as possible.
the property we are looking at last sold in 2015 and websearches and price listing websites suggest it was sold as a leasehold. We asked when viewing and the owner (who i think had bought this as a first time buyer themselves ) said that he was under the impression it was £5 a year ground rent but they have never heard or received anything bill wise and it would seem it was something they knew or asked about when buying and he only thought about it the first time they had a viewing and was asked the question.
to try and get a bigger picture I spent around £12 buying the title deeds register for the property but also the neighbouring property just for something to compare to as that is a leasehold.
The first thing that struck me on the land registry is that for the property we are looking at there was only one "freehold" listing whereas the neighbouring property and any others that I know are leashold would show a free hold and a leasehold listing.
anyway the deeds for the neighbouring property states "the leasehold land shown edged...." etc on the property register.
the same document also has a pretty clear Date, Term, Rent and parties listing for the short particular of the lease say £15 a year for 999 years from 1970 for example. (not the real figures)
The deed for the property we have offered on with the vendor believing is leasehold actually starts
"the freehold landshown edged"... and there are no particulars mentioned about any leases etc.
The only thing I have spotted is the following paragraph:
"The Vendor hereby grants to the Purchaser and its successors in title
the same rights and easements over any retained land of the Vendor as
were granted by the Leases for the respective properties as if the same
were repeated herein in full BUT THERE IS EXCEPTED AND RESERVED TO THE
VENDOR and its successors in title to the retained land the same rights
and easements over the properties hereby conveyed as were excepted and
reserved by the Leases for the respective properties as if the same
were repeated herein in full".
Maybe I am going overboard here when our offer hasn't officially been accepted yet but could the property actually be freehold afterall and the seller has just misunderstood/had a poor solicitor who hasn't advised? Or could there potentially be some leaseholder out there not noted that could potentially cause an issue?
reading between the lines I feel like maybe a prior owner has bought the freehold and the 2 have merged
Sorry I know this is probably something more for a solicitor but I'm just trying to do a bit of digging before I start spending and potentially wasting money, If there is anyone who can offer any sort of understanding/guidance it would be appreciated.
Regards,
Martin.
Sorry if this gets a bit long winded or confusing.
Myself and my Girlfriend have just put an offer in on a house. Not accepted but it's a reasonable offer and I am just doing my homework so that if it is accepted it can hopefully go as smoothly as possible.
the property we are looking at last sold in 2015 and websearches and price listing websites suggest it was sold as a leasehold. We asked when viewing and the owner (who i think had bought this as a first time buyer themselves ) said that he was under the impression it was £5 a year ground rent but they have never heard or received anything bill wise and it would seem it was something they knew or asked about when buying and he only thought about it the first time they had a viewing and was asked the question.
to try and get a bigger picture I spent around £12 buying the title deeds register for the property but also the neighbouring property just for something to compare to as that is a leasehold.
The first thing that struck me on the land registry is that for the property we are looking at there was only one "freehold" listing whereas the neighbouring property and any others that I know are leashold would show a free hold and a leasehold listing.
anyway the deeds for the neighbouring property states "the leasehold land shown edged...." etc on the property register.
the same document also has a pretty clear Date, Term, Rent and parties listing for the short particular of the lease say £15 a year for 999 years from 1970 for example. (not the real figures)
The deed for the property we have offered on with the vendor believing is leasehold actually starts
"the freehold landshown edged"... and there are no particulars mentioned about any leases etc.
The only thing I have spotted is the following paragraph:
"The Vendor hereby grants to the Purchaser and its successors in title
the same rights and easements over any retained land of the Vendor as
were granted by the Leases for the respective properties as if the same
were repeated herein in full BUT THERE IS EXCEPTED AND RESERVED TO THE
VENDOR and its successors in title to the retained land the same rights
and easements over the properties hereby conveyed as were excepted and
reserved by the Leases for the respective properties as if the same
were repeated herein in full".
Maybe I am going overboard here when our offer hasn't officially been accepted yet but could the property actually be freehold afterall and the seller has just misunderstood/had a poor solicitor who hasn't advised? Or could there potentially be some leaseholder out there not noted that could potentially cause an issue?
reading between the lines I feel like maybe a prior owner has bought the freehold and the 2 have merged
Sorry I know this is probably something more for a solicitor but I'm just trying to do a bit of digging before I start spending and potentially wasting money, If there is anyone who can offer any sort of understanding/guidance it would be appreciated.
Regards,
Martin.
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