Buying ex council apartment - 89 year lease

Duncannnn

So I’ve seen an apartment, one of 4 within a block.

great views in an area becoming popular with tourists.

but the freeholder is the council and it was on a 125 year lease, with 89 left….which can be extended.


it needs about 10k spent on it to sort oil heating figment, and sort the bathroom.

my mother works in a solicitors office, one said if at the right price buy it and another said don’t touch it.

the estate agent said the council are responsible for the roof, gardens to the side and the painting of the house….but on reading some forum posts, would they bill the owner for that?

need to make a decision today about what I’m doing.

all advice appreciated.

I would be buying to use as a holiday let

user1977

Yes, like any freeholder the council is responsible for organising communal repairs etc - but of course you're paying your share, they're not doing it as some charitable effort for you.

I think you need to doing more work on your business plan first, if you didn't understand stuff like this.

loubel

As user1977 says, maintenance costs are paid for by the leaseholders even if carried out by the freeholder.

Is it already being used as a holiday let? You might find the Lease does not allow this anyway so that's something to check before investing too much in the flat.

eddddy

It would be very unusual for a residential flat lease to allow holiday letting.

Perhaps even more so, if the council is the freeholder. I suspect they might want their properties used as homes, rather than for holidays.


The lease will specify who is responsible for maintaining and repairing each part of the building - but as you say, any maintenance and repairs done by the freeholder will be recharged to leaseholders.

When you say a "block of 4" - are they what are sometimes called "maisonettes" - 2 downstairs and 2 upstairs - with no communal areas - and the building looks a bit like semi-detached houses from the outside?  They sometimes have "unusual" leases.