Freehold property with Unregistered Leasehold Title

ETY90

Hello,

I’m in the final stages of purchasing (what I thought was) a freehold property, but at the very last moment my solicitor has informed me that there’s an unregistered leasehold title which cannot be removed as the seller and the Land Registry do not hold an original copy of the lease (and the leaseholder is apparently unknown).

The freehold was purchased in 2000, but due to an admin error/oversight by a previous owners solicitor at the time, the leasehold was not merged or rescinded, which means the lease is classed as still in existence. I’ve done a bit of research on this and I’m now aware of the risks involved, the main one being if the leaseholder/successor to the leaseholder was to pop up at some point in the future, they could legally evict me from the property (!)

The current seller purchased the property at the end of last year, but due to a change in personal circumstance, had to put the property straight back on the market. He managed to secure a mortgage at the time of purchase and has an indemnity policy in place to cover him if the worst was to happen. I can’t help but think this should have been mentioned prior to this point, but this is a separate issue as the estate agent hasn’t exactly been transparent about other aspects of the sale.

I’m currently waiting to hear back from my lender as to whether they can still grant my mortgage based on this new information.
If it is granted, I appreciate it’s at my discretion as to whether to proceed, based on the potential risks involved with securing a mortgage, resale of the property and of course the worst case-scenario - eviction. 

However, I was hoping there might be someone who has experience with purchasing such a property, or currently lives in one, who could offer some advice around whether they’ve found it difficult to get a mortgage or if the unregistered leasehold was off putting to buyers when they came to sell?

The property ticks a lot of boxes for me but it’s not a forever home as such, and I’m worried about spending money on renovations if the unregistered leasehold could affect the resale value.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Fredw56

You are dealing with liars. In your position I would walk away immediately.