Buying my (house) freehold- advice?
Discussion
JPJPJP said:
Are there any significant / imminent liabilities they are trying to dodge by making the offer now?
Maybe they are reacting to the government making noises about stopping the sale of new houses leasehold?
Very sensible thoughts but it there were, it would ultimately be for the tenant to bear anyway assuming usual form of leases. And if it's a house, it's unlikely the costs would be shared with any other tenants.Maybe they are reacting to the government making noises about stopping the sale of new houses leasehold?
Owning the freehold rather than leasehold is almost always preferable but for what it'll cost, I would say engaging a solicitor to advise you on the specific circumstances would be well worth it (especially if there's a mortgage on the leasehold interest). If it's really a case of a simple transfer, it should cost a lot less than a regular conveyance.
More OH is a paralegal in a Conveyencing firm that also covers leaseholds and lease extensions.
If you would like I can ask her to read and reply, might be able to give you alittle guidance and advice. I'll ask her when she is home.
Seems cheap. Has he got consent of all other leaseholders? I think it has to be offered to other people first. What company is it? I'd personally want a solicitor. We usually deal where all leaseholders form company and buy freehold. Seems abit dodgy to me to be honest.
If you would like I can ask her to read and reply, might be able to give you alittle guidance and advice. I'll ask her when she is home.
- Edit
Seems cheap. Has he got consent of all other leaseholders? I think it has to be offered to other people first. What company is it? I'd personally want a solicitor. We usually deal where all leaseholders form company and buy freehold. Seems abit dodgy to me to be honest.
Edited by CoreyDog on Wednesday 26th July 15:04
£800 - I'd go for it.
It may be many times the value of the GR, but it is significantly less than the potential for admin fees and premiums, whilst also protecting you from the freehold being sold from under you to a more cavalier operation.
Any conveyancing solicitor will be able to process this, as you will need to inform the mortgage company and possibly your insurers.
It may be many times the value of the GR, but it is significantly less than the potential for admin fees and premiums, whilst also protecting you from the freehold being sold from under you to a more cavalier operation.
Any conveyancing solicitor will be able to process this, as you will need to inform the mortgage company and possibly your insurers.
it will be an old lease written in such a way not to rip off the Lease holder, its the modern ones where you get ripped off. If the Freeholder can only get £5 a year and has to wait 950 years till the lease runs out and hasn't got some other dodgy way of extracting the leaseholders money (like maintenance charges) then it has very little value, 160 years worth of £5 to get the 800. Thats probably why the dont want it any more, 900 years is a long time to wait for your investment to pay out.
If i was signed up to a scheme where i would get £5 a year for 900 years and eventually be given a bit of land, but in return i would have all sorts of complex legal obligations and potential liabilities, I think i would probably want out too.
£800 is definitely not an offer too good to be true, but i imagine in the wake of the recent lease hold house scandal, even a lease which is not onerous will still put a noticeable dent in it's value for many years to come, so potentially worth many times more than £800 to you when you want to sell.
£800 is definitely not an offer too good to be true, but i imagine in the wake of the recent lease hold house scandal, even a lease which is not onerous will still put a noticeable dent in it's value for many years to come, so potentially worth many times more than £800 to you when you want to sell.
Is it negotiable? I would make them an offer- say £650 and see if they take it perhaps? If they are making the move unasked, then that £800 is the price with some profit for them.
Either way I would buy it, the point of owning a home is so no one else (bar mortgage company) is involved, your castle and all that and that is worth paying for, and also as said, it will make it simpler to sell the house in the future.
Either way I would buy it, the point of owning a home is so no one else (bar mortgage company) is involved, your castle and all that and that is worth paying for, and also as said, it will make it simpler to sell the house in the future.
To me for £800 its a no brainer, As others have said the lease has very little value, so the majority of the costs will be legal.
Even if you could save some money sorting it yourself I would have thought we would be talking £50-100 ... worth the grief?
I would have thought you would struggle to cover your own legals for that fee. I am sure when I bought the lease on a flat a few years back the legals, for both sides were about £2.5k give or take.
Bare in mind that when you extend a lease the lease holder is responsible for all parties costs, so your legal bill will be yours+ the freeholders costs.
Even if you could save some money sorting it yourself I would have thought we would be talking £50-100 ... worth the grief?
I would have thought you would struggle to cover your own legals for that fee. I am sure when I bought the lease on a flat a few years back the legals, for both sides were about £2.5k give or take.
Bare in mind that when you extend a lease the lease holder is responsible for all parties costs, so your legal bill will be yours+ the freeholders costs.
Bite their hands off, myself and a load of neighbours are currently fighting LPM (by all accounts a bunch of very nasty sharks) to buy the freeholds on our houses, less than 60 years of lease left.
LPM opening prices has been over £20,000 each so far, most seem to be ending up at £6000. For £800 its a no brainer.
LPM opening prices has been over £20,000 each so far, most seem to be ending up at £6000. For £800 its a no brainer.
Based on the very limited information as to the detail of the terms of the lease i would agree with the poster who has said you are actually paying about £100-£150 for the freehold as that is all the marriage value of the freehold and the leasehold elements is worth. The rest is fees wrapped in a nice package.
You need to take your own legal advice on this.
Personally i would be looking at things such as what Covenants they will still be expecting to apply post completion of the marriage. If you are still going to have to apply to them for permission to change the windows or to extend then they might as well jog on. I would also be looking at how much it will cost me to get my Building Insurance direct rather than repay them.
A 999 year lease at such a low Ground Rent is a very different animal to the 125 leases that those who didn't listen to their conveyancers (preferring to believe the sales people...) are b
hing about in the news.
You need to take your own legal advice on this.
Personally i would be looking at things such as what Covenants they will still be expecting to apply post completion of the marriage. If you are still going to have to apply to them for permission to change the windows or to extend then they might as well jog on. I would also be looking at how much it will cost me to get my Building Insurance direct rather than repay them.
A 999 year lease at such a low Ground Rent is a very different animal to the 125 leases that those who didn't listen to their conveyancers (preferring to believe the sales people...) are b
hing about in the news. ade73 said:
Bite their hands off, myself and a load of neighbours are currently fighting LPM (by all accounts a bunch of very nasty sharks) to buy the freeholds on our houses, less than 60 years of lease left.
LPM opening prices has been over £20,000 each so far, most seem to be ending up at £6000. For £800 its a no brainer.
Very different scenarios. A 999 year lease is practically a freehold. Anything under 80 years will have a marriage value, this makes the calculation more complex, and more expensive to extend a lease. A 999 year lease at £5 per annum is a simple perpetuity calculation that should be really easy to agree with the landlord/at tribunal. LPM opening prices has been over £20,000 each so far, most seem to be ending up at £6000. For £800 its a no brainer.
I suspect the house was originally bought at a time when there was a fashion for lease hold houses much like there was recently, except this one was setup by gentleman instead of scumbags in the brief period between the Victorian era and now where there was a small amount of unregulated fairness in financial sector. They did not try and use any thousand year old scams to make them look good upfront but then turn out totally unreasonable.
1927 just before the great depression, so i can imagine that property prices were booming and adding a £5 a year lease was probably far from a token amount of money and would have allowed developers to bring the purchase price down to a more affordable price but keep the returns high, it's the exact same principle today they just got too greedy.
1927 just before the great depression, so i can imagine that property prices were booming and adding a £5 a year lease was probably far from a token amount of money and would have allowed developers to bring the purchase price down to a more affordable price but keep the returns high, it's the exact same principle today they just got too greedy.
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