We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Freehold and leashold title on house, cause concern?

We are due to exchange on our property in the next week or so. There is both freehold and leasehold titles on the property, we have been sent copies of both titles and both titles numbers are listed on the contract ..
The current owners have lived in the property for years and years, I believe the current owners bought the freehold of the property years ago and I’m assuming the titles just hadnt been merged at that time. FYI, They have purchased another property and moving in there hence the sale of this one to us.

On the freehold title the current owners are listed as ‘title absolute’.
On the leasehold, the current owners are listed as ‘good leasehold’.
Our solicitor asked the current owners solicitor to upgrade the leasehold title to absolute but they have said this isn’t necessary as we are buying the freehold.

in our contract it states we are buying the ‘all that freehold’, I have obviously asked our solicitor if this will cause any issues and whether the leasehold title over the property will be merged to the freehold but I was just wondering whether anyone had any thoughts on whether this is gonna cause us any problems? I am assuming the leasehold title will either be merged/erased once we have purchased the property as I’ve read this is what normally happens.
Our solicitor hasn’t raised any concerns to us about this at all but it was just something I picked up on and wondered whether we should be concerned. If anyone has any thoughts it would be much appreciated!

Comments

  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Nope, no problem at all. You will own title absolute to the freehold.

    If you wish to dissolve the lease, you can do post-purchase. But, unless you actively do, both will simply be transferred to your name.
  • fastbs
    fastbs Posts: 177 Forumite
    100 Posts Name Dropper
    AdrianC said:
    Nope, no problem at all. You will own title absolute to the freehold.

    If you wish to dissolve the lease, you can do post-purchase. But, unless you actively do, both will simply be transferred to your name.
    That is very reassuring - thank you so much for your reply! 
  • greatcrested
    greatcrested Posts: 5,925 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    fastbs said:

    in our contract it states we are buying the ‘all that freehold’,
    Check with your solicitor, but I believe the contract needs to specify that you are buying not just 'all that freehold', but also the lease, otherwise the current owners could continue to live there as leaseholders.....
  • fastbs
    fastbs Posts: 177 Forumite
    100 Posts Name Dropper
    fastbs said:

    in our contract it states we are buying the ‘all that freehold’,
    Check with your solicitor, but I believe the contract needs to specify that you are buying not just 'all that freehold', but also the lease, otherwise the current owners could continue to live there as leaseholders.....
    Thank you. I have asked our solicitor. The contract states both the title numbers in there, does that mean anything?
  • fastbs
    fastbs Posts: 177 Forumite
    100 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 25 January 2021 at 2:34PM
    Update: solicitor confirmed the titles will be merged once completion has taken place
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 354.4K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 247.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 604K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.4K Life & Family
  • 261.5K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.