Buying a flat, can the freeholder screw you over?

snowqueen555

There are 2 flats I'm interested in (I'd only buy one), its a converted house. There are no service charges (but they are setting up two leases), the agent says if the roof or anything needs sorting etc the two flats pay 50/50. My worry is that the freeholder can just lump a roof repair on us which would not be affordable. 

I think they were let beforehand, the previous owner of both flats haven't kept the property in good nick. Both flats are a bit rundown, needs a new driveway, maybe a new roof, garden maintenance, inside really needs new toilets, sink, repaint etc. 

anselld

If you buy a rundown property you will be liable for repairs.  Flats are no different to any other property in that respect.

Why would a 50:50 split of repair cost class as "screwing you over"?

hazyjo

You could always put money aside each month as though you were paying a service charge.

Although that would take a while to build up obviously! And if work needs doing, you'll have to cough up. They would need to obtain quotes and you'd get notice.

The inside stuff would be down to you.

Is it a shared garden? Split? Or belongs to one flat?

snowqueen555

anselld said:

If you buy a rundown property you will be liable for repairs.  Flats are no different to any other property in that respect.

Why would a 50:50 split of repair cost class a "screwing you over"?

 As in they may ask the money upfront. With service charges at least it is built up. If I had the freehold I would be able to make the repairs when I choose.

hazyjo said:

You could always put money aside each month as though you were paying a service charge.

Although that would take a while to build up obviously! And if work needs doing, you'll have to cough up. They would need to obtain quotes and you'd get notice.

The inside stuff would be down to you.

Is it a shared garden? Split? Or belongs to one flat?

My worry is I buy the flat and then the freeholder is forcing us to pay for roofing repairs and anything else right off the bat. 

The garden is split down the middle so we have our own half, would they be able to enforce anything to do with the garden, it is quite rundown as well.

snowqueen555

The flats are slightly below market value in my opinion, I'm wondering if this is priced into it. the EA agent said the flats were priced at what they thought it was worth, it wasn't given a low or high figure.

bouicca21

Maybe you should get yourself over to the leasehold advisory service and read up about the process required before major repairs can be authorised and the kind of say you would get in that process.  Personally I’d be wary of no regular service charge - who is going to clean any communal areas?  Who will sort out buildings insurance? My service charge gets the grass mown, the communal areas cleaned, the windows washed.  We cou,d of course sort all that out ourselves but it’s much easier to have someone else do it.

NameUnavailable

Unless the purchase price allows for the costs of bringing the place up to standard I would look elsewhere, if the building is run down and you buy a flat you WILL be contributing towards any works required and it sounds like there will be quite a lot to do in quite a short space of time. 

Assuming the freeholder owns both leases, and is selling them now, they are likely doing so with the intention of billing the new leaseholders for the work (rather than renovating the building/flats now and selling them in a refurbished state).

snowqueen555

NameUnavailable said:

Unless the purchase price allows for the costs of bringing the place up to standard I would look elsewhere, if the building is run down and you buy a flat you WILL be contributing towards any works required and it sounds like there will be quite a lot to do in quite a short space of time. 

Assuming the freeholder owns both leases, and is selling them now, they are likely doing so with the intention of billing the new leaseholders for the work (rather than renovating the building/flats now and selling them in a refurbished state).

Hi, yes the freeholder is setting up a new 999 lease and no service charges for each flat. I kinda thought they would intend to bill the new flat owners with the driveway, roof etc. The flats are marketed around 10% below market rates I reckon.

bouicca21 said:

Personally I’d be wary of no regular service charge - who is going to clean any communal areas?  Who will sort out buildings insurance? My service charge gets the grass mown, the communal areas cleaned, the windows washed.  We could of course sort all that out ourselves but it’s much easier to have someone else do it.

The only communal area is the shared front driveway and the shared walkway that takes us to our own garden. We have our own garden and front door entrance. I don't really know the finer details though with regards to insurance etc.

NameUnavailable

snowqueen555 said:

NameUnavailable said:

Unless the purchase price allows for the costs of bringing the place up to standard I would look elsewhere, if the building is run down and you buy a flat you WILL be contributing towards any works required and it sounds like there will be quite a lot to do in quite a short space of time. 

Assuming the freeholder owns both leases, and is selling them now, they are likely doing so with the intention of billing the new leaseholders for the work (rather than renovating the building/flats now and selling them in a refurbished state).

Hi, yes the freeholder is setting up a new 999 lease and no service charges for each flat. I kinda thought they would intend to bill the new flat owners with the driveway, roof etc. The flats are marketed around 10% below market rates I reckon.

bouicca21 said:

Personally I’d be wary of no regular service charge - who is going to clean any communal areas?  Who will sort out buildings insurance? My service charge gets the grass mown, the communal areas cleaned, the windows washed.  We could of course sort all that out ourselves but it’s much easier to have someone else do it.

The only communal area is the shared front driveway and the shared walkway that takes us to our own garden. We have our own garden and front door entrance. I don't really know the finer details though with regards to insurance etc.

So it's a maisonette? It's not uncommon for such properties to have 'shared' maintenance (and no regular charge, just that you split any bills when incurred, including the buildings insurance) BUT you really need to see the lease first to check exactly what it says.

What is the ground rent going to be? 

Would the current freeholder consider selling them with a share of the freehold? Then you and the other leaseholder would be able to plan/decide on works between yourselves. If they are applying a 'high' ground rent then they probably want to keep the freehold.

diystarter7

Often the freehold can be bought at next to nothing, ie 1 to 2 pounds legal fews and joint or more owners are often respisoble for the roof/building/foundations and shared areas - usally set out in the legal agreement.

eddddy

snowqueen555 said:

My worry is I buy the flat and then the freeholder is forcing us to pay for roofing repairs and anything else right off the bat. 

It's probably worth taking a step back.

If you bought a whole house, and the roof needed repairs, you'd need to pay 100% of the cost.

There are 2 flats in the building that you're buying, so if the roof needs repairs each flat owner will need to pay 50%.


If you're worried about the condition of the roof (or the condition of any other part of the building) and potential repair costs, you should get a survey done before you buy. The survey should tell you if expensive repairs are likely to be needed in the near future.

snowqueen555 said:

... and no service charges for each flat. 

It's more likely that there will be service charges for each flat... but they will be collected on an ad-hoc basis.

For example,

• when the buildings insurance is due, you will get a service charge bill for your 50%.

• when repairs are required, you will get a service charge bill for your 50%

If the cost to you will be over £250, you can force the freeholder to do something called a Section 20 consultation, if you want.

But that will probably result in you having to pay more money, so if you're happy with the plan and the cost - it might be better to avoid the s20 consultation and pay voluntarily.