Buying the Freehold of our Leasehold house - rip off?

TBG01

theshed said:

HampshireH said:

theshed said:

Ok, I mentioned on here earlier that I should know more than I do. That is because our house is leasehold and to be honest did not know what it meant at the time. It was a new build and when I asked the sales person she said it just means you pay to have grass cut and maintenance things like that.
I have started trying to see if we should have been better informed by the conveyancing solicitor. Stupidly we went with the builders recommended solicitor because they offered us a deal.
It was a hundred year lease so about 85 to go ! So do I wait to see if we have cause to complain or investigate buying ?
Thanks

What would you complain about? Leasehold by the very definition means someone has rights for the duration of the lease.

It sounds like you knew it was a 100 year lease when you bought.

A lot of houses are leased onleases of 125 or sometimes 99/100 years 

Once a lease expires the tenancy continues on the same terms until ended by either the landlord or tenant. So whilst the freeholder /landlord could start proceedings it isn't as clear cut as the lease ends Monday and you have to leave by Tuesday. They would still need to evict properly. 

 I was not told anything with regard to the lease other than "it means they cut the grass and do maintenance on the site".

The sales person told you that. Not the Solicitor. 

If it's a new build property, you would've signed the original lease. So surely you read the lease before signing it? If not, why sign it? How can the Solicitor be at fault for you not reading the terms of the lease, but still signing it to confirm you agree to the terms?

theshed

Well that's the issue isn't it. We never 'knowingly' signed or where shown a lease.

TBG01

The Land Registry wouldn't/couldn't register the lease without you signing it. 

Slithery

You must have signed it otherwise you couldn't have bought the property.

Whether you read it or not before signing is a question only you can answer.

HampshireH

theshed said:

HampshireH said:

theshed said:

Ok, I mentioned on here earlier that I should know more than I do. That is because our house is leasehold and to be honest did not know what it meant at the time. It was a new build and when I asked the sales person she said it just means you pay to have grass cut and maintenance things like that.
I have started trying to see if we should have been better informed by the conveyancing solicitor. Stupidly we went with the builders recommended solicitor because they offered us a deal.
It was a hundred year lease so about 85 to go ! So do I wait to see if we have cause to complain or investigate buying ?
Thanks

What would you complain about? Leasehold by the very definition means someone has rights for the duration of the lease.

It sounds like you knew it was a 100 year lease when you bought.

A lot of houses are leased onleases of 125 or sometimes 99/100 years 

Once a lease expires the tenancy continues on the same terms until ended by either the landlord or tenant. So whilst the freeholder /landlord could start proceedings it isn't as clear cut as the lease ends Monday and you have to leave by Tuesday. They would still need to evict properly. 

No I did not know the lease was for 100 years, I have since found that by accessing my account on the leaseholders website.
I would be complaining that I wasn't told the lease was for 100 years, 10 or even a Thousand. I was not told anything with regard to the lease other than "it means they cut the grass and do maintenance on the site".
Of course proving that is something completely different.

You would have signed a document stating what you were buying.

theshed

Slithery said:

You must have signed it otherwise you couldn't have bought the property.

Whether you read it or not before signing is a question only you can answer.

And that is the crux of the matter. It was obviously signed but to what extent was it explained ? Not at all.
The only 'explanation' of a lease we where given was what the salesperson said.
We dealt with the solicitor by post and where sent forms to sign. Naively, we signed.
This also seems to be the experience of two others who bought at the time.
Wether we have cause for redress, I don't know at this time.
But for those who provided practical advice thank you, and those who appear to gloat in others misfortune sorry for not being perfect. 😜

TBG01

Wether we have cause for redress, I don't know at this time.

You have none what's so ever.

You had the lease. You had the opportunity to read it and raise any queries. Instead you signed it based on what the salesperson told you.

House purchases, are one if not the most expensive purchase of someone's life yet it's still absolutely baffling how many people don't read the paperwork they're sent.

Wanderingpomm

amylloyd98 said:

jimbog said:

What are your plans in 15 years time when the lease is expired? 

I am not too sure, this is my parents house who will most likely not be here in 15 years.  Ill be at the beginning of my 40s - worst case scenario would be to sell the house then, but isn’t it incredibly difficult to sell a leasehold house now?

That’s not what happens. They lose the house when the lease expires. It reverts to the freeholder and they have no interest. It won’t be theirs to sell. 

RogerBareford

theshed said:

Slithery said:

You must have signed it otherwise you couldn't have bought the property.

Whether you read it or not before signing is a question only you can answer.

And that is the crux of the matter. It was obviously signed but to what extent was it explained ? Not at all.
The only 'explanation' of a lease we where given was what the salesperson said.
We dealt with the solicitor by post and where sent forms to sign. Naively, we signed.
This also seems to be the experience of two others who bought at the time.
Wether we have cause for redress, I don't know at this time.
But for those who provided practical advice thank you, and those who appear to gloat in others misfortune sorry for not being perfect. 😜

I don't understand why you would sign a document without reading it? especially when it is for something as expensive as a house purchase!

Everytime i've bought a property i've read every single page of every document sent by my solictor and questioned everything i didn't fully understand.

You can get into a lot of financial trouble by signing documents without reading and understanding them.

mjm3346

amylloyd98 said:

Hello,

So, our family has decided that its time to buy the freehold of our leasehold house that we have lived in 50+ years (yes, i know we should have done this sooner). The lease has around 15 years left. We contacted the landlord who owns the freehold, who is also a solicitor, in regards to buying this, so they arranged for their surveyor to come and value our house. We have not received the valuation, but we did get a letter this morning saying the freehold will cost £58,000!!!! Is this a rip off, or am I incredibly naive?

Based on houses on our road, i believe our house would be valued at no more than £280,000 - and we have also spoken to a solicitor who helped somebody else on our road by their freehold from the same landlord for £36,000 just last year!!!

would this price be negotiable at all? Does anybody have any advice? We really do not have this kind of money, but know we really need to buy the freehold, as leasehold houses are a thing of the past….

As has already been mentioned get legal advice (they may even give you a "ballpark" figure to play with).

But based on a previous thread of yours you now potentially have something to invest your inheritance in, although you have aged badly in 2 years

Didn't read carefully enough
This thread
"be at the beginning of my 40s"
from 2 years ago
"due to the recent passing of a family member I am set to inherit roughly 100k at 21 years of age."

amylloyd98 said:

Hi everybody,
due to the recent passing of a family member I am set to inherit roughly 100k at 21 years of age. Im currently a full time university student with little savings, this amount of money is quite overwhelming and I’m not quite sure what to do with it. I have differing opinions from my parents who suggest putting the money evenly split into two savings accounts may not be the best move considering the low interest rates right now and maybe investing in a property might be the best move. I just wondered if anybody else had ant suggestions or advice on how to manage and optimise this amount of money. 

Many thanks