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Leasehold worth buying?
ryankirkpatrick2
Posts: 22 Forumite
Hi all, we have had an offer accepted on a leasehold property for £273,000 (house is located in Preston, Lancashire and was bought new for £250,000 in 2012 ground rent is £200 per year). Before I made the offer I asked the seller to find out how much it would cost to purchase the freehold for the house and he told me his neighbour bought theirs for around £4000. We made the offer and he applied for an updated price, it has come back at £5700 plus the legal fees (we would have to cover legal fees for the seller as well as ourselves so overall would work out at around £8000 overall). My questions are as follows: Is it worth buying the freehold? If so is the figure reasonable or should I try and negotiate money off the purchase price to cover this? Thanks.
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Comments
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What are the clauses on increases in ground rent?0
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People are getting a bit "anti-leasehold", because of horror stories about bad leases.
The "anti-leasehold" sentiment may get worse, so it may be safer to buy the freehold, to make the property easier to sell in the future.
Having said that, reforms are being discussed which might make it easier and cheaper to buy the freehold, if you wait.
Either way, the letter from the freeholder is not binding - the freeholder can still increase the price they're asking and/or decide not to sell if they want.
If buying the freehold now (as well as the leasehold) is important to you, you'll need to get your solicitor involved in simultaneously buying both.0 -
I have not yet seen the full lease, I suspect I wont see it until my solicitor receives the specific details. I have asked and the owner said the rent has not increased since they have lived in the house and that there was no notice that it was going to change in the 'near' future. The lease has 991 years remaining. I have read about reform and that it may make it cheaper. I just see it as a bit of a gamble. Does anybody know if we can purchase the freehold straight away or if we have to wait until we've owned the property for two years? I would rather not wait two years if possible as the holder could ask for a higher price.0
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