Vowed I'd never buy a leasehold again but.....

NameUnavailable

I know this is not something anyone else can answer, but feedback/opinions would be welcome, it might help!

Long story very short I had a leasehold property previously and sold it due to the constant hassle from the freeholder - lots of work they wanted to do in a short space of time, constant letters (often in a threatening tone), demands etc., but zero response when you queried anything with them. The FTT were involved a couple of times but it didn't clip their wings, quite the opposite.

I vowed not to buy another leasehold but the reality of the matter is that there is very little I can afford that's freehold in any of the areas near me (and I'm looking at a very wide area for that reason). I figured a leasehold with share of freehold would be the next best thing, as I would at least have some say in the manangement decisions and fellow freeholders have a vested interest at least. The problem then is finding places as many agents simply don't know the difference and so don't often mention if a property has a shared freehold.

I saw a place last week that meets much of my wish list but it transpires that the agent incorrectly told me that it was a shared freehold and it's a usual arrangement with a separate freeholder and their management company.

Friends tell me I'm being too cautious, most people never have any problems with their freeholders etc. etc. but I know that lightening does strike the same place twice and whilst I really like the property I'm literally terrified of getting into any more unreasonable freeholder type issues and god forbid legal actions / FTT.

Did I really have an exeptionally bad experience or should I keep looking?

AlexMac

You're wise to be cautious...  but do keep looking.

Estate agents who can't be bothered to even ask their client about tenure are a lazy PITA eh?  I know their replies are not legally binding, and your own lawyer is the only one who can guarantee accurate repies to enquiries, but I always do my own research to try to establish who the freeholder is before offering.  I did walk away form one purchase when I found  the useless Freeholder had successfully (for them) defended a "Right to Manage" action by their unhappy leaseholders.  And on a couple of other occasions, the EA has been well briefed, and has realised that a decent freeholder, or better still, a share in the freehold management Company is a real pluspoint for prospective buyers.

I've been really happy with the three shared freehold I've owned.  In each case they were smallish conversions of 6-12 flats, and they all took a DIY approach to management rather than abdicating the work to a remote profit-driven Managing Agent.  In consequence, they were better maintained, with lower service charges than any comparable local properties, even though two of them were 100-140- year old listed buildings.  So while I assume you can check the tenure via the Land registry (can you.. anyone?) , or do a bit of imaginative googling or searching on the companies House website for variants of the address, it might also be worth looking at smaller blocks which are more likely to be shared ones, or at least less likely to have exploitative absentee Freeholders?  Or even knock on Neighbours' doors?  

I'm also really happy with the two Ex-Council BTL flats I own.  My local authority is a really good freeholder. Reasonable Service charges, good communication and consultation and often giving me time to pay on the occasional bigger bill for cyclical maintenence.  

So don't give up!

anselld

"Share of freehold" is still a Leasehold.  There is still an element of risk in that you are not in full control of your own maintenance and repairs.  You can still have problems if the co-freeholders have a different view or are disinterested in communal maintenance or if they refuse or are unable to pay their share of the bills.

If you are buying a flat you should probably try to speak to some of the other Leaseholders and get some idea what actually happens "on the ground".  A block managed by a good professional management company without onerous ground rent will be less hassle than a "share of freehold".

bouicca21

One of my neighbours is keen on transforming us into share of freehold.  The rest of us might consider it if we didn’t know that he’d be a nightmare to work with.

share of freehold comes with just as many problems as dealing with a freeholder. They are just different.

princeofpounds

Yes you had an unusually bad experience. Most people have limited issues with their freeholders. A largish minority have minor dissatisfaction perhaps, often not particularly justified (it's always easy to complain about a bill...) but sometimes quite valid. You should keep leasehold properties in consideration, and avail yourself of a few due diligence techniques to minimise your risk.

However, what no-one can give you is a guarantee, so there's not much comfort if you do end up back in a similar situation.

NameUnavailable

bouicca21 said:

One of my neighbours is keen on transforming us into share of freehold.  The rest of us might consider it if we didn’t know that he’d be a nightmare to work with.

share of freehold comes with just as many problems as dealing with a freeholder. They are just different.

I would consider it if I were you - presumably you would be able to out vote him on anything you didn't agree with.

The experience I had was caused mostly by a clash between one of the leaseholders and the freeholder, who then went nuclear on all of us, and a dispute which dragged on for years.

I guess dealing with a professional freeholder company will be a different experience however, as it shouldn't ever get personal as it did with mine.

lookstraightahead

I think buying anything is a risk. You are right, some estate agents don't have a clue though, and you have to do the work yourself which is what I'm doing.

Ive lived in / owned all sorts and my biggest headache was actually a detached property but with awful neighbours - so I think it's people rather than buildings. I live at present in a flat, rented, waiting to buy again, and the people around me are an absolute delight.

bouicca21

‘ I would consider it if I were you - presumably you would be able to out vote him on anything you didn't agree with. ‘
 Seriously no. He is a bully and would make everyone’s lives a misery if he didn’t get his own way. Share of freehold or not it all comes down to how reasonable the nieighbours are. OP, I think you’ve been unlucky but I’m just as unlucky with my obnoxious neighbour, but at least none of us have to deal with him personally.