Buying a leasehold house and then buying the freehold

donkey388

Hi all

I've found a leasehold house I like which is approx £10k cheaper than the equivalent freehold house in the same area.

I've been speaking to the vendor and they said it'll cost approx £3k to buy the freehold from the trust (£1k for the freehold, £1k for their solicitor fees, £1k for my solicitor fees)

Is anyone aware of a reason why I shouldn't consider this house (I've noticed leasehold houses really struggle to sell at the moment which is what's giving me the buying power) or any pitfalls

Am I right in assuming once I've bought the freehold it would be like the house was never a leasehold?

eddddy

The main risk is that you buy the leasehold, and then the freeholder decides they don't want to sell you the freehold after all, or asks for a much higher price.


It would be safer if you exchanged contracts on the freehold and leasehold purchases at the same time, to avoid this risk. But the freeholder would need to be cooperative.

G_M

donkey388 wrote: »

I've been speaking to the vendor and they said it'll cost approx £3k to buy the freehold from the trust (£1k for the freehold, £1k for their solicitor fees, £1k for my solicitor fees)

So how does the vendor know this?


Is he/she going to purchase the freehold and then sell it to you?If so, fine.


If not, it's just waffle.......

Yellow_mango

If it was that easy and would add instant value and saleability to the property, why didnt the vendor buy it before putting the property on the market?

ellyj

Hi Sorry but I am new to the forum and cannot work out how on earth to post a question so I am jumping in on the back of this!
I bought a new build house 2 years ago and bought the freehold. It now appears that the majority of later purchasers have been given their freehold f.o.c. Do I have any chance in getting my money back or is it just tough luck?
Many thanks

eddddy

ellyj wrote: »

Hi Sorry but I am new to the forum and cannot work out how on earth to post a question so I am jumping in on the back of this!
I bought a new build house 2 years ago and bought the freehold. It now appears that the majority of later purchasers have been given their freehold f.o.c. Do I have any chance in getting my money back or is it just tough luck?
Many thanks

You almost certainly have no right to get your money back.

I guess the former freeholder might choose to give your money back as a goodwill gesture - but that seems unlikely.


Why have the freeholds of other houses been given away free? That seems a bit unusual.

ellyj

Hi,
Thanks for your reply
Apparently the builders, Taylor Wimpey, no longer sell leasehold properties other than apartments

eddddy

OK - so that's not really giving the freehold away free.

Some people (like you) bought leasehold houses and later on, other people bought freehold houses.

You would normally pay a bit more for a freehold house than a leasehold house.

From what you say, it doesn't sound like anyone bought a leasehold house, and was then given the freehold for free.

ellyj

It just seems unfair for them to have the early properties leasehold and some of us buy the freehold and then change tack mid build so someone buying the same property as me for example bought it for almost 6K cheaper. I guess like you said luck of the draw!

Sachs

It's a well publicised scandal ellyj. You're not the only one and the government has stepped in to stop it happening in future but there's no help as yet for people who got caught out.

ellyj

Ah well. Couldn't half do with that 6 grand!