Long leasehold house

Tumtitums

I have been told that a a house i am interested in is a leasehold one with 999 years and no service charges or ground rent (he’s not received a bill since he’s owned it)
I was really only interested in freehold houses. Should i consider this as being the same as a freehold house ?
I also a bit concerned that the property has no access to the back of the house  as its right up against the boundary and the gardens of  houses on another street, should i be concerned about this

eddddy

Just to clarify - the current leaseholder may not have received any bills, but there may still be a ground rent and potential liability for service charges. You need to read the lease to check.

Also, the lease might mention other restrictions. e,g, It might say "No alterations to the property without consent" or maybe even "No alterations at all". So you need to be happy about the terms of of the lease.

Apart from that, a 999 year lease is probably worth the same as freehold. And if you want, after 2 years you'll probably have the right to buy the freehold. I'd guess it'll probably cost under £1,000 plus fees.

davidmcn

Tumtitums said:

I have been told that a a house i am interested in is a leasehold one with 999 years and no service charges or ground rent (he’s not received a bill since he’s owned it)
I was really only interested in freehold houses. Should i consider this as being the same as a freehold house ?
I also a bit concerned that the property has no access to the back of the house  as its right up against the boundary and the gardens of  houses on another street, should i be concerned about this

(1) yes, for all practical purposes it's likely to be the same as freehold
(2) pretty commonplace, up to you whether you're bothered about having to go through the house to get to the back garden. Ah, misunderstood. Think you still have implied rights of access if necessary for maintenance (irrespective of what the title says). Otherwise up to you whether you're happy with having no back garden and whether it's been reflected in the price compared to similar properties which do have a garden.

AdrianC

Tumtitums said:

I have been told that a a house i am interested in is a leasehold one with 999 years and no service charges or ground rent (he’s not received a bill since he’s owned it)
I was really only interested in freehold houses. Should i consider this as being the same as a freehold house ?

To all intents and purposes, unless you're planning on redeveloping the site, absolutely. The ground rent is probably "peppercorn". It may literally be one peppercorn be year. The maximum back debt that can ever be pursued is six years.

I also a bit concerned that the property has no access to the back of the house  as its right up against the boundary and the gardens of  houses on another street, should i be concerned about this

Do you mean there's absolutely zero back garden?
The owners of those gardens would have to allow you reasonable access to maintain your property.

Tumtitums

Thanks the issue here is that before i visited  i asked and was told by the agent that its freehold  but its only after asking again after the viewing  that the agent asked the owner and found out its a leasehold house. I'm skeptical about the claim that there are absolutely no payments due or demanded by the freeholder and that there is still 999 years on the lease,  how can the freeholder have demanded no money at all ? Its a development of about 10 similar houses, would it really be possible for me to become a freeholder of my house if all the other houses are leasehold ?

Apparently there is one house responsible for the gates to the development which again i feel is odd as the response is that none of the other houses pay anything towards this gate.

I dont mind about going through other peoples houses , to get to the back of mine eg if there is damage that needs attention. The issue is that im aware that some owners may not give permission for this

eddddy

Tumtitums said:

Apparently there is one house responsible for the gates to the development which again i feel is odd as the response is that none of the other houses pay anything towards this gate.

It's quite possible that the lease says you have to contribute towards the cost of maintaining/repairing the gates, the road, the landscaped areas etc.

But realistically, even if the house was freehold, you'd still have to contribute to those.

In fact, when contributing to those shared costs (via a service charge) you have more protection as a leaseholder, than as a freeholder.

AdrianC

Tumtitums said:

Thanks the issue here is that before i visited  i asked and was told by the agent that its freehold  but its only after asking again after the viewing  that the agent asked the owner and found out its a leasehold house.

The vendor misinformed the EA. It happens often.

I'm skeptical about the claim that there are absolutely no payments due or demanded by the freeholder and that there is still 999 years on the lease

There won't be "still" 999. It'll be 999 minus however long since the lease was granted.

how can the freeholder have demanded no money at all ?

Easily. Perhaps none is due under the terms of the lease. Perhaps the original freeholder is a now-dead individual, or a now-defunct company, and the successor simply doesn't know they are.

Its a development of about 10 similar houses, would it really be possible for me to become a freeholder of my house if all the other houses are leasehold ?

Not only possible, but you would have a legal right to buy the freehold after two years owning the lease.

Apparently there is one house responsible for the gates to the development which again i feel is odd as the response is that none of the other houses pay anything towards this gate.

You probably don't want to buy that house, then.

I dont mind about going through other peoples houses , to get to the back of mine eg if there is damage that needs attention. The issue is that im aware that some owners may not give permission for this

They have no choice. You have a legal right of access for maintenance where that access is the only way to maintain.

jimmyjammy001

Avoid leasehold houses at all cost, there are numerous amounts of horror story's on here, people can not extend or do anything to the house that they own, complete rip off for a house to be a leasehold

Tomg84

jimmyjammy001 said:

Avoid leasehold houses at all cost, there are numerous amounts of horror story's on here, people can not extend or do anything to the house that they own, complete rip off for a house to be a leasehold

This is probably ill-advised. In some regions like Manchester there are thousands of houses (typically older terraced properties) which are leasehold with peppercorn rents (i.e. £1-£10 a year). You need to consider the overall context of the lease rather than just avoid all leaseholds. There are some horror stories but this mainly people who don't understand what they've committed to and the longer term implications of their lease or received poor advise.

If its a 999 year lease with limited scope for ground rent increases and a controllable/sensible maintenance fee (if any applies) then I would be considering these in my house search.

For example, I used to live in older two bed terraced house, leasehold, 999 years. No maintenance charge. No increases to ground rent.  The ground rent was <£10 a year yet they only bothered to invoice every few years. It felt the exactly the same as a freehold house!

Tumtitums

I guess its the solicitor's responsibility to make the buyer aware of any issues in the lease ? I'm also curious as to why you didn't convert it to a freeholder as some answers say that this would be quite easy to do . Its a private courtyard so i'm guessing that i would  still have to pay to some of the courtyard upkeep costs  even if you did convert it to freehold ?

zagubov

Buying it as leasehold and converting it to freehold may not increase its value much but it may make it more rapidly saleable further down the line, as fewer potential buyers will be scared away from viewing. Plus you'll have the peace of mind of knowing you can make structural alterations.