My mother has a LEASEHOLD HOUSE and I've only just found out, as has she!!

letsbetfair

Do check it's the genuine freeholder, but I agree £650 seems worthwhile. Only exception might be if it's an extremely cheap house - I'd be more wary about paying £650 for the freehold of a £40,000 house, say...

oystercatcher

Check this is genuine, it seems to be too cheap to be true. When I bought the freehold of my place I had to pay both sets of legal fees as well as the cost of the freehold it seems strange the company are offering pay the fees which were a couple of thousand in my case.

If it is genuine then if Mum can afford it it's probably worthwhile for whenever the property is sold although there are loads of leashold properties here and it doesn't affect value much.  I just prefer the 'completeness' it gives . 

SouthLondonUser

davidmcn said:

An ultra long leasehold with peanuts ground rent and no onerous covenants is for all practical purposes freehold, so I wouldn't get very excited about it either way. £650 for eliminating the risk of paranoid leasehold-averse buyers is probably worthwhile though. 

Well, first of all many paranoid leasehold-averse buyers are paranoid leasehold-averse because they may have had awful experiences themselves with leasehold. Is there a managing charge? Do you need to get (and pay for) consent from the freeholder for renovations, changes to the property, etc? These are the things that would worry me the most. Maybe your current freeholder is decent, but it can still sell to another, predatory one in the future.

Then, whether preferences are rational or not doesn't matter much. Many people from other countries find it totally bonkers that so many British buyers like wooden doors and single-glazed wooden windows, which are so thermally inefficient that they are illegal abroad, yet, guess what, these foreigners are still a minority and they don't make the market. Similarly, whether an aversion to leasehold is reasonable or not will matter little if potential buyers walk away when they hear the word 'leasehold'

TBagpuss

Unicorn_cottage said:

zagubov said:

Absolutely, some buyers would freak out at the word Leasehold just like some freak out at Japanese Knotweed.
That price would be bargain.

For good reason.

Not necessarily. Modern leaseholds with escalations clauses are a major concern, however older ones with nothing similar are not usually a problem. My first house had been built in 1902 and had a long lease (999 ears, I think)  Ground rent was £6 a year.
The lease prevented me from running a tannery in the back yard or keeping a disorderly house or selling spirituous liquors from the property, so I suppose it might have been a problem if I had been a part-time tanner running a brothel and drinking club from he front room, but otherwise,  not an issue at all. 

LandyAndy

TBagpuss said:

Unicorn_cottage said:

zagubov said:

Absolutely, some buyers would freak out at the word Leasehold just like some freak out at Japanese Knotweed.
That price would be bargain.

For good reason.

Not necessarily. Modern leaseholds with escalations clauses are a major concern, however older ones with nothing similar are not usually a problem. My first house had been built in 1902 and had a long lease (999 ears, I think)  Ground rent was £6 a year.
The lease prevented me from running a tannery in the back yard or keeping a disorderly house or selling spirituous liquors from the property, so I suppose it might have been a problem if I had been a part-time tanner running a brothel and drinking club from he front room, but otherwise,  not an issue at all. 

Exactly this.
My first house was built in the 30's, 999 year lease, £4pa ground rent, and very similar conditions.  Almost all houses in that area, South Manchester, were leasehold then (1980).

Grumpy_chap

$650 = bargain, bite their hand off.  So long as it is genuine and not a scam.  You will need your own Conveyancing Solicitor, but that is also a low cost service - we just did a lease extension and the solicitor cost was hardly anything.

jemimavintage_2

Thanks everyone!! Brilliant advice. I love this site!! 

macman

I'm also going to go against the flow here. With 793 years left on the lease, and assuming a peppercorn ground rent, I cannot see that ownership of the freehold is going to increase the value of the property by even £650. It's also not going to make the property less desirable, as the odds are that all the neighbouring houses are also freehold, with a similar lease remaining. 
The only people who would be put off are those with an unfounded suspicion of leasehold property, who seem to be numerous.  It doesn't seem to deter anyone from buying a flat, or a house in most of inner London.

Emmia

macman said:

I'm also going to go against the flow here. With 793 years left on the lease, and assuming a peppercorn ground rent, I cannot see that ownership of the freehold is going to increase the value of the property by even £650. It's also not going to make the property less desirable, as the odds are that all the neighbouring houses are also freehold, with a similar lease remaining. 
The only people who would be put off are those with an unfounded suspicion of leasehold property, who seem to be numerous.  It doesn't seem to deter anyone from buying a flat, or a house in most of inner London.

With flats in London leasehold is a fact of life as a flat only occupies part of a building, and very few are share of freehold.

I wouldn't buy a leasehold house though whether in London or outside - even if the ground rent is very small and the lease is very long as I'd want to own the whole building and the land under it.

blue_max_3

My mothers house was freehold, but she had to pay a chief rent of £10pa. That was in Cheshire and I believe it's not unusual i n the NW of England.
This touches on it... https://www.moneywise.co.uk/property/buy-sell/buying-freehold-home-check-small-print
She diligently sent off her cheque every year! We sold the house after she passed away and it wasn't a problem at all. She could have bought it for something like £270, but it never seemed good value.