Buying a leasehold flat has been the single worst experience of my life

Metrocammell

Having been there, I feel your pain. 

somerandomusername

WillowLeaf said:

Brie said:

You can get incredibly nice pre fab houses in Germany that I've been told take about a month to assemble.  Most of that time is prepping the foundation etc.  

Huf Haus? They're beautiful, to me anyway. They do look a bit like a tech company head office but I still like it. Available in the UK as well. You see the odd one on Rightmove.

https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk/

I'd love to live in one of those but I reckon they cost a fortune, plus you need to buy the land, getting all the permissions etc. Probably looking north of a million quid just for their smallest unit.

If we had tons of land like the US or Canada I would never buy a flat but buying a quiet piece of land here is basically impossible without serious money and or connections.

mlz1413

It took me 20 weeks to buy my freehold house on a housing estate that needs a management pack.
Sellers solicitor was the worst out of the 4 in the chain. Didn't bother asking for the management pack until all searches and questions had been asked. ( I definitely ranted about it!)
Ended up having to break the chain and move into a flat for 2 months.

Yes our system is archaic.
Yes many solicitors are awful.
No it is not just leasehold.

Domestic conveyancing is far lower paid than commercial.  Could be part of the problem, but I definitely don't think what we have is worth any more.

Do you have any ideas how it could be better?

dinosaur66

somerandomusername said:

dinosaur66 said:

i know gardening is a chore for some but i would never buy a leasehold 125 year or less flat in england 

its not yours and until the laws change never will be and you are beholden on management companys not to rip you off.

buy a 1/2 bed freehold house instead and not a new one 

4 months is typical of my expierence of conveyencing in london and south east 

i know in london 95% of everything built is a flat but i would still not buy one 

Mine is a virtual freehold it's got like 900+ years left on the lease, no ground rent (share of freehold), decent service fees. If I didn't hate where I live now so much I would save for another 5 years and buy a house.

I'm just starting to lose patience because I already sat through 5 months of this with a previous purchase the fell through so now I'm growing anxious as this one is also looking like it's going to take a long time. 

my understanding of the 999 year leaseholds is that all the leaseholders get together and buy the freehold which would be the only type of flat i would buy

scotland house /flat buying and conveyencing  puts england to shame i wish we would adopt there laws

i have had slow as treacle conveyencers /estate agents who lie to me  / never had a buyer pull out though

somerandomusername

dinosaur66 said:

somerandomusername said:

dinosaur66 said:

i know gardening is a chore for some but i would never buy a leasehold 125 year or less flat in england 

its not yours and until the laws change never will be and you are beholden on management companys not to rip you off.

buy a 1/2 bed freehold house instead and not a new one 

4 months is typical of my expierence of conveyencing in london and south east 

i know in london 95% of everything built is a flat but i would still not buy one 

Mine is a virtual freehold it's got like 900+ years left on the lease, no ground rent (share of freehold), decent service fees. If I didn't hate where I live now so much I would save for another 5 years and buy a house.

I'm just starting to lose patience because I already sat through 5 months of this with a previous purchase the fell through so now I'm growing anxious as this one is also looking like it's going to take a long time. 

my understanding of the 999 year leaseholds is that all the leaseholders get together and buy the freehold which would be the only type of flat i would buy

scotland house /flat buying and conveyencing  puts england to shame i wish we would adopt there laws

i have had slow as treacle conveyencers /estate agents who lie to me  / never had a buyer pull out though

Yeah having a freeholding company that is a third party is not ideal. Apparently a share of leasehold is the "gold standard" of flat purchases. I'm actually in England though not Scotland. 

Dustyevsky

somerandomusername said:

WillowLeaf said:

Brie said:

You can get incredibly nice pre fab houses in Germany that I've been told take about a month to assemble.  Most of that time is prepping the foundation etc.  

Huf Haus? They're beautiful, to me anyway. They do look a bit like a tech company head office but I still like it. Available in the UK as well. You see the odd one on Rightmove.

https://www.huf-haus.com/en-uk/

If we had tons of land like the US or Canada I would never buy a flat but buying a quiet piece of land here is basically impossible without serious money and or connections.

There are plenty of quiet, relatively inexpensive areas in the UK, comparable with rural parts of the US or Canada, but perhaps you'd not wish to endure the inconveniences of everyday living in them. The law of supply and demand operates wherever people live.

Emmia

somerandomusername said:

dinosaur66 said:

somerandomusername said:

dinosaur66 said:

i know gardening is a chore for some but i would never buy a leasehold 125 year or less flat in england 

its not yours and until the laws change never will be and you are beholden on management companys not to rip you off.

buy a 1/2 bed freehold house instead and not a new one 

4 months is typical of my expierence of conveyencing in london and south east 

i know in london 95% of everything built is a flat but i would still not buy one 

Mine is a virtual freehold it's got like 900+ years left on the lease, no ground rent (share of freehold), decent service fees. If I didn't hate where I live now so much I would save for another 5 years and buy a house.

I'm just starting to lose patience because I already sat through 5 months of this with a previous purchase the fell through so now I'm growing anxious as this one is also looking like it's going to take a long time. 

my understanding of the 999 year leaseholds is that all the leaseholders get together and buy the freehold which would be the only type of flat i would buy

scotland house /flat buying and conveyencing  puts england to shame i wish we would adopt there laws

i have had slow as treacle conveyencers /estate agents who lie to me  / never had a buyer pull out though

Yeah having a freeholding company that is a third party is not ideal. Apparently a share of leasehold is the "gold standard" of flat purchases. I'm actually in England though not Scotland. 

Share of freehold has it's disadvantages if your fellow freeholders don't want to do (can't afford) maintenance etc. a separate freeholder and management company does have better leverage in this type of situation.

somerandomusername

Emmia said:

somerandomusername said:

dinosaur66 said:

somerandomusername said:

dinosaur66 said:

i know gardening is a chore for some but i would never buy a leasehold 125 year or less flat in england 

its not yours and until the laws change never will be and you are beholden on management companys not to rip you off.

buy a 1/2 bed freehold house instead and not a new one 

4 months is typical of my expierence of conveyencing in london and south east 

i know in london 95% of everything built is a flat but i would still not buy one 

Mine is a virtual freehold it's got like 900+ years left on the lease, no ground rent (share of freehold), decent service fees. If I didn't hate where I live now so much I would save for another 5 years and buy a house.

I'm just starting to lose patience because I already sat through 5 months of this with a previous purchase the fell through so now I'm growing anxious as this one is also looking like it's going to take a long time. 

my understanding of the 999 year leaseholds is that all the leaseholders get together and buy the freehold which would be the only type of flat i would buy

scotland house /flat buying and conveyencing  puts england to shame i wish we would adopt there laws

i have had slow as treacle conveyencers /estate agents who lie to me  / never had a buyer pull out though

Yeah having a freeholding company that is a third party is not ideal. Apparently a share of leasehold is the "gold standard" of flat purchases. I'm actually in England though not Scotland. 

Share of freehold has it's disadvantages if your fellow freeholders don't want to do (can't afford) maintenance etc. a separate freeholder and management company does have better leverage in this type of situation.

We do have a management company and they charge us a service fee, which in turn pays for everything. So they basically handle everything for us but we do get a say on which contractor to use and stuff like that. 

It would be a nightmare if the tenants had to maintain the entire block and land themselves haha.

dinosaur66

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81855830#Comment_81855830

yes i know the law is changing to make them all 999 year leases / or at least they say they will be but your 900 plus lease is joint freehold and with management companys you all can sack.

if i owned a flat / that is the type i would buy

i now live in essex /lived in london for decades as well but i own property in scotland as well so i know scottlsh buying and selling and compare it to us in england

no leasehold in scotland flats or houses at all / you get a full survey called a home report done by the seller and it costs you nothing / no gazumping allowed / house /flat comes on the market it is done offeres above/ you have to use a solicitor to put in the offer with all your details and finance in place before hand so seller knows your serious / if your offer is accepted then you have no time to hang about you will get lots of messages/phone calls and zoom calls weekly and in my case 27 days after the offer i had the keys and all the time this was in progress i was 450 miles away .

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81855830#Comment_81855830

suspect you meant share of freehold being the 'gold standard' of leasehold ownership.

However, going forward it appears 'Commonhold' will be the new system for new flat ownership following the proposal to ban sale of new leasehold flats - see today's announcement to this effect.

Of course would be future flat purchasers of new builds will have to familiarise themselves as to what ' Commonhold' under English law means, by way of rights and obligations.