Buying Leasehold on Council Properties

minimike2

jenner wrote: »

ive never heard of leasehold houses. i think a freehold property is worth a lot more than a leasehold

Yes and no.

It depends on the lease really.

I used to own an ex-housing association house that was "Leashold". But the lease had no ground rent payable and was for 999 Years. For mortgage purposes it was freehold and didnt make a difference to the value.

The reason the lease was there, was to make sure that houses in the area didnt do things to massively alter the asetics of the streets, and to adhere to certain presentation standards. The truth of the matter is that no one really cared or paid any attention to them.

On the flip side, a 50 year lease with a large annual ground rent is going to have a big effect on mortgageability and value for obvious reasons.


So it all depends on the terms of the lease.

Oh and when I enquired about buying the freehold they wanted £1000 plus a survey fee and I had to pay the legal costs. I put the phone down.