Leasehold house - £20000 contribution needed to upgrade roof. Any help appreciated.

Crashy_Time

martindow said:

bagby said:

Just looked at the schedule and looks like massive refurb.  Pavements windows asbestos?  So to be honest I think a challenge is going to be extremely hard to fight.   As well as even more expensive.   I think metropolitan will be doing a blanket refurb on the whole estate whether or not the roof and repairs need doing.    I’m sickened for her.    Thanks for your help.

If it covers lots of repairs and maintenance, the £20k may be much more reasonable rather than being an excessive bill for the roof.  It is a big hit, but if the renovation is comprehensive it should need little or no repair in the next few years.  It would also make it easier to sell at a better price at some point in the future.

I do sympathise as no-one would want to receive a large bill like this.

I agree with this but think we need to be wary of thinking that repairs/maintenance can just be "bumped" on to a future buyer.

Crashy_Time

Unlikely to be the case here for the OP but there are downsides to officials like councils etc. having the power to tell you that something needs repaired......
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-33182157

It was either this case or another similar case involving Edinburgh council that had people being told repairs needed done when they didn`t, and certain firms having access to other firms quotes so they could undercut, real Tony Soprano stuff with homeowners picking up the tab.

gab3x

Your daughter has lived there for 6 years so hopefully she has seen value of the property go up considerably more than £20k.
I would avoid excessive complaints and paper trails. Come time to sell and you will have to report these to future buyers potentially scaring many off.
My advice - pay it, sell it and buy a freehold house in burbs. Never enter into leasehold again.

Crashy_Time

gab3x said:

Your daughter has lived there for 6 years so hopefully she has seen value of the property go up considerably more than £20k.
I would avoid excessive complaints and paper trails. Come time to sell and you will have to report these to future buyers potentially scaring many off.
My advice - pay it, sell it and buy a freehold house in burbs. Never enter into leasehold again.

Good advice.

bagby

Crashy_Time said:

martindow said:

bagby said:

Just looked at the schedule and looks like massive refurb.  Pavements windows asbestos?  So to be honest I think a challenge is going to be extremely hard to fight.   As well as even more expensive.   I think metropolitan will be doing a blanket refurb on the whole estate whether or not the roof and repairs need doing.    I’m sickened for her.    Thanks for your help.

If it covers lots of repairs and maintenance, the £20k may be much more reasonable rather than being an excessive bill for the roof.  It is a big hit, but if the renovation is comprehensive it should need little or no repair in the next few years.  It would also make it easier to sell at a better price at some point in the future.

I do sympathise as no-one would want to receive a large bill like this.

I agree with this but think we need to be wary of thinking that repairs/maintenance can just be "bumped" on to a future buyer.

If the repairs are done then I wouldn’t think there would be any more large refurb bills for a long time so a new buyer in the future would be getting a good deal.  

bagby

gab3x said:

Your daughter has lived there for 6 years so hopefully she has seen value of the property go up considerably more than £20k.
I would avoid excessive complaints and paper trails. Come time to sell and you will have to report these to future buyers potentially scaring many off.
My advice - pay it, sell it and buy a freehold house in burbs. Never enter into leasehold again.

She was due to exchange contracts when this arrived and was getting £15000 more than she paid for it so not a great increase and  that figure was budgeted into the new mortgage.   She has said will definitely never buy leasehold again.   Flat back on market for £20000 less and wishing that someone will buy it so she can still move.  Has two people coming round tomorrow.

Slithery

bagby said:
She has said will definitely never buy leasehold again.

There's a massive difference between 'buying leasehold' and 'buying leasehold with a council freeholder'. There are a huge amount of decent leasehold properties that will never have the issue that your daughter currently has.

bagby

Crashy_Time said:

Unlikely to be the case here for the OP but there are downsides to officials like councils etc. having the power to tell you that something needs repaired......
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-33182157

It was either this case or another similar case involving Edinburgh council that had people being told repairs needed done when they didn`t, and certain firms having access to other firms quotes so they could undercut, real Tony Soprano stuff with homeowners picking up the tab.

This doesn’t surprise me in the least.  COVID contracts etc!!   She doesn’t have any leaks and the roof replacement is the most costly job of many.   A letter has been sent today that each property will be assessed and no unnecessary work will be done so decision to be made on whether  to sit it out (which could be a long time) or try and sell and take the hit of £20,000.  If the property she is buying won’t give her any time to find new buyer then she willl sit it out.   All very stressful.  Like life is on hold.

bagby

Slithery said:

bagby said:
She has said will definitely never buy leasehold again.

There's a huge difference between 'buying leasehold' and 'buying leasehold with a council freeholder'. There are a huge amount of decent leasehold properties that will never have the issue that your daughter currently has.

In my limited knowledge of this I did think that buying leasehold of property is sometimes unavoidable.   Definitely would not have bought ex council if had known that this could happen.   Thought if any works to be done would be at a reasonable cost.   Who budgets for a £20,000 unexpected bill.?

Slithery

bagby said:
Who budgets for a £20,000 unexpected bill.?

Anyone that has done their research into a council owned freehold.
This isn't a new thing, it's been happening for decades.