Buying the freehold

theshoefairy

Thank you. The company pantera property is based in Harrogate. Can I contact the actual freeholder and negotiate with them? Are you saying the house could actually belong to the freeholder after 12 years? 

Slithery

theshoefairy said:

Are you saying the house could actually belong to the freeholder after 12 years? 

Yes, that's what leasehold means.

Your mother never actually owned the property, she just paid upfront to rent it for the length of the lease. When that time is up then the freeholder gets their property back.

unkle

Yes, when your lease runs out it goes back to the freeholder. So one way or another you need to do something.

https://www.panteraproperty.com
They are based in Harrogate.

Do you know who the freeholder is? You also need get a copy of the lease from the Land Registry and i'd be looking to employ a solicitor.

steve866

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomas-snook-mrics-b3b1845b?challengeId=AQGQht0WZ9c--QAAAXSYxRLpXd1CFmKXDCsfBP6QSAsuoBivngpBwlXLAzlzUg5ZYju4UZtXuzu10qHcIJ_QaW6s10YJrp-37A&submissionId=ee383b0a-1560-3516-16af-c5a6d3e45a55

You could try reaching out here.

theshoefairy

So my mother paying the mortgage off to own the house means nothing? 

unkle

theshoefairy said:

So my mother paying the mortgage off to own the house means nothing? 

Your mother had a lease, that lease, according to the papers you have received, runs out in 12 years.

I'd seriously look at employing a solicitor and checking the actual lease length. 

patman99

Pantera mentioned the freehold was going up for auction with an asking price of £50k.

This is not likely to be acheived. see what funds you can secure against the property then attend the auction in person (or online) and just watch the price drop as no-one else bids for it.

At the point when the auctineer asks for any bids, stick one in for £10. you may well be lucky.

theshoefairy

Thank you for all the advise. I'm terrified at the moment as I'm a single single parent on a pt wage. There is no way i could afford 50k or anything close. Going to phone the lease advisory service tomorrow who mentioned a tribunal if I am not happy with the price. It's terrifying that I could be homeless in 12 years 

NameUnavailable

I think you need to seek legal advice. There is an outline of the process to buy the freehold on the lease advice website -

https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/houses-qualification-valuation/

A lease is basically a rental agreement, just the same as a leasehold flat. You never own the property, just the right to live there for the term of the lease, subject to the clauses of said lease (including paying ground rent if applicable and service charges etc).

If your lease really does end in 12 years then yes, at that point your right to live there also ends and the freeholder can sell a new lease to you or anyone else.

Before the lease ends you have the right to buy the freehold, and they have to offer it to you first before putting it on the open market (which they've done) but you can get the value agreed by tribunal rather than taking their offer (which is likely to be more) although there are costs involved.

I'm not sure how attractive the freehold will be to an investor, given that they could buy it and then you apply for enfranchisement after (but before your lease ends), but if you do nothing then you need to start planning for when your lease ends in 12 years time.

eddddy

There are some online freehold purchase price calculators - here's a couple of examples:
https://lbb.org.uk/calculator/
https://www.freeholdcalculator.com/freehold_simple.php

They suggest that if the current value of the house with its 12 year lease is about £25k to £30k - then the freehold might cost about £50k,

But I guess you don't know the current value of the house, so that might not help you much.


You probably have 3 options for buying the freehold...

• Negotiate in advance of the auction
• Bid at the auction
• Compulsorily purchase the freehold using a process called 'Enfranchisement'. See https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/houses-qualification-valuation/ 

But unfortunately, whichever way you go, you'll need to find a big chunk of cash. If you buy the freehold, the property would be mortgageable - if you are able to get a mortgage.