Freehold house with leasehold driveway: what could go wrong?

ztkr

I've recently viewed a house to buy. It's one of a block of 4 new build houses, each with their own freehold, but there is a shared driveway which is leasehold (999 years) and for which the freeholder is a major land/estates owner in the area. I'm aware of the pitfalls of leaseholds in general but what sort of thing can go wrong in this particular situation? For example, could the driveway freeholder do anything to limit access or change the terms in the future (I will of course read the lease). Another scenario I can think of: what would happen if one driveway leaseholder didn't pay their ground rent - could the freeholder restrict access to their property (this seems impractical) or do anything that would impact all the property owners? 

Thank you in advance for any response. I'm not enthusiastic about any kind of leasehold. Please take it as read that I would be checking any lease very carefully and discussing thoroughly with my conveyancer if I decided to buy.

user1977

The lease is the lease, it can't be unilaterally changed by any party.

If it's a 999 year term is there actually any ground rent payable?

ztkr

user1977 said:

The lease is the lease, it can't be unilaterally changed by any party.

If it's a 999 year term is there actually any ground rent payable?

Uncomfirmed so far but I'd expect it. Otherwise, I can't see what benefit the freeholder would have in retaining an interest.

david29dpo

You need to know the details of the lease.
Our shared drive is still owned by the builder (freehold) but we all have the correct rights over it so its worthless to the builder.
Never had a problem in 30 years.

user1977

ztkr said:

user1977 said:

The lease is the lease, it can't be unilaterally changed by any party.

If it's a 999 year term is there actually any ground rent payable?

Uncomfirmed so far but I'd expect it. Otherwise, I can't see what benefit the freeholder would have in retaining an interest.

There's unlikely to be much, if anything, in it for them in having it leasehold rather than freehold - arguably freehold can be worse from your point of view (see all the "fleecehold" issues with communal areas on estates). Leasehold is just a clunky way of getting around some quirks with how English property law works.

eddddy

ztkr said:

I've recently viewed a house to buy. It's one of a block of 4 new build houses, each with their own freehold, but there is a shared driveway which is leasehold (999 years) and for which the freeholder is a major land/estates owner in the area. I'm aware of the pitfalls of leaseholds in general but what sort of thing can go wrong in this particular situation? For example, could the driveway freeholder do anything to limit access or change the terms in the future (I will of course read the lease). Another scenario I can think of: what would happen if one driveway leaseholder didn't pay their ground rent - could the freeholder restrict access to their property (this seems impractical) or do anything that would impact all the property owners? 

You mention "if one driveway leaseholder didn't pay their ground rent".

Can you clarify the ownership structure? (i.e. what do you mean by "one driveway leaseholder")

You're saying

• There is a shared driveway
• A major landowner owns the freehold of the drive

And are you saying that:

• Each homeowner owns the leasehold of one section of drive? (i.e. the drive is divided into 4 sections)
• or The 4 homeowners jointly own the leasehold of the drive?
• or A management company or developer owns the leasehold of the shared drive?

And who is responsible for maintaining the shared drive?


(If a management company or developer owns the leasehold, presumably they maintain the drive, so you will pay them a service charge, so there could be a potential 'fleecehold' situation.)