Purchasing leasehold flat - alienation/lease question

sync94

I'm going to view a flat which I really like the look of. I bought hte title plan of the hm registry website and saw it has the following: 

(15.04.2014) The Lease prohibits or restricts alienation. 

After googling, this means that there are some restrictions on how the lease can be sub-letted or if it can at all.

The flat is a share of a freehold, around 980 years of the lease left and the current owner is a director of the freehold company. Whilst I have no plans to rent out this flat, I am just thinking long term and would like to have the option to do so. My questions are:
- How common is this arrangement?
- Would you still proceed even if there are some restrictions? I imagine it may affect the resale value
- Is there anyway I can get my hands on the lease prior to making a full offer (I don't want to go via solicitors if I already know it's an issue)
- What questionsw ould you be asking the current owner to identify this issue?

eddddy

If, for example, the lease prohibits sub-letting - some people will see that as a benefit and others will see that as a drawback.

If somebody intends to be an owner-occupier, they might prefer it that everyone else in the block is an owner-occupier, on the assumption that owner-occupiers will 'take better care' of the building, grounds, surroundings etc, than tenants would.  (And for example, you couldn't end up with a landlord for a neighbour who rents the flat out to a new group of rowdy students each year.)

But if somebody wants a BTL property, or a property with the flexibility to rent it out if they need to, obviously this property wouldn't be suitable for them.

eddddy

To avoid any confusion, BernieW's google suggestion is intended to direct you to a page that advertises his ebook for £25. His post is really just thinly veiled advertising.

There are plenty of free resources about leasehold etc on the web, a good place to start is https://www.lease-advice.org/ (it's government funded, and they will even give free telephone advice).

@BernieW - I can predict what your follow up post is going to say, but feel free to say it anyway.

You need to get beyond the mindset that you're much cleverer than everyone else, so they won't realise what you're doing. (Maybe take that on board before replying)

Perhaps you understand about leaseholds, but you certainly don't seem to understand about online marketing. The kind of posts you're making are damaging your brand.

sync94

Thanks. The EA asked the vendor and the vendor said that many flats have rented out before so it shouldnt be a problem. I don't particularly understand why that clause is in the title plan? I'll ask the EA for a copy of the lease, but I really doubt they'd give it to me. I ideally want to know this before I make an offer and pay up for solicitors fees

Geraldchairplant

sync94 said:

Thanks. The EA asked the vendor and the vendor said that many flats have rented out before so it shouldnt be a problem. I don't particularly understand why that clause is in the title plan? I'll ask the EA for a copy of the lease, but I really doubt they'd give it to me. I ideally want to know this before I make an offer and pay up for solicitors fees

I'm in literally the same situation. Can I ask the outcome?

anselld

sync94 said:

Thanks. The EA asked the vendor and the vendor said that many flats have rented out before so it shouldnt be a problem. I don't particularly understand why that clause is in the title plan? I'll ask the EA for a copy of the lease, but I really doubt they'd give it to me. I ideally want to know this before I make an offer and pay up for solicitors fees

The lease can be requested from Land Registry for a fee of £7 using form OC2.  It is always worth reading the lease before committing any other spending on a potential leasehold purchase.