New build and leaseholds

Nuggy96

Hi,

We have reserved a plot on a new build house. We were told by the sales adviser, the lease would be owned by the Council. However, upon getting the lease from my solicitors, it says the developers are the landlords. I have the emails stating from the sales adviser it was the council who owns it. The sales adviser also said the ground rent would be £0, but the lease says £1. Although there is no term in there that I can see that says it will rise at all. Has anyone got any advice on this, or what they would do in this situation. just worried that the developers will sell my lease, although I see no benefit in someone buying our lease to profit, if it only has a £1 ground rent. Can I argue anything or get anything from this?

Secondly, I read an article recently (https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-7188849/Developers-banned-selling-leasehold-new-build-houses.html) which showed all new builds no longer being leaseholds. My house isn't built yet but is leasehold? Is this because this piece of legislation hasn't been passed through yet?

Any advice would be great, don't want to be in a leasehold trap.

Thanks,

davidmcn

Nuggy96 said:

We were told by the sales adviser, the lease would be owned by the Council. However, upon getting the lease from my solicitors, it says the developers are the landlords. I have the emails stating from the sales adviser it was the council who owns it.

Bear in mind that you have no say in who the freeholder might be from time to time. But why are you concerned about who it is? What matters is what your lease says.

The sales adviser also said the ground rent would be £0, but the lease says £1.

And is this a problem? It can't literally be £0, there has to be a rent of some sort. In practice, it's zero because nobody is going to bother collecting £1 from you.

Secondly, I read an article recently (https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-7188849/Developers-banned-selling-leasehold-new-build-houses.html) which showed all new builds no longer being leaseholds.

Read it again. It doesn't say the law has changed, just that the government announced they had plans to change the law. That hasn't happened yet.

Nuggy96

Because I don't want my lease being sold onto a third party without knowledge, and would rather it in the hands of someone without a terrible reputation.

Thought that was the case.

davidmcn

Nuggy96 said:

Because I don't want my lease being sold onto a third party without knowledge, and would rather it in the hands of someone without a terrible reputation.

Well, like I said you have absolutely no say in who the freeholder is. Even if the original freeholder was the council, there's no reason why they couldn't sell it to someone else. Your rights and obligations are those stated in the lease, those don't change just because the freehold has changed hands.

Nuggy96

yes i know but I was told otherwise, i have an option to withdraw. You are frankly abrupt and rude

RelievedSheff

Just because someone doesn't give answers you like it doesn't make them rude.

Ultimately you have no control over who owns your freehold. If you want that you need to buy a freehold property. 

jimmyjammy001

Leasehold properties are just a scam, just Google it, you will see many people who have regretted it, not only the lease but the covenants as well when trying to get stuff done to the house. 

eddddy

Nuggy96 said:

We were told by the sales adviser, the lease would be owned by the Council. However, upon getting the lease from my solicitors, it says the developers are the landlords. I have the emails stating from the sales adviser it was the council who owns it. 

It could be that...

• the council is the freeholder of the entire piece of land
• the council has granted a lease of the entire piece of land to the developer
• the developer is building, say, 50 houses and so will be creating 50 sub-leases - one for each house/plot. And you'll be buying one of those sub-leases.

Nuggy96 said:

Because I don't want my lease being sold onto a third party without knowledge, and would rather it in the hands of someone without a terrible reputation.

Even if they have a terrible reputation - they can only do what the lease allows them to do.

So you (and your solicitor) need to read the lease to make sure that it doesn't allow them to do anything 'terrible'.

TBH, the thing that newbuild owners tend to complain about most is the 'service charge' for maintaining common areas. But that applies whether the house is freehold or leasehold. (In fact, you have more laws to protect you if your house is leasehold, than if it's freehold.)

Richard_Webster

In Southampton we have some areas covered by leases granted by a landed estate in the 1860s/70s for 1000 years with a ground rent connected to the number of bricks burnt on the land.   The landed estate in question denies it now owns the freehold so you are just left with this very long lease.   Developers have had to buy a chunk of land in this lease, and then grant underleases of individual plots or flats.   Perhaps it’s a situation like that?

GixerKate

Personally I wouldn't buy a house thats leasehold.  You might have trouble selling the house later on, if there are two houses at the same price but one was freehold and one was leasehold, which would you chose?