StuartVRS
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Registered: 9th Feb 03
Location: Bromley Common, Greater London
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anyone on here done this? Its hard in my local area to get anything half decent on the budget we would like for our first purchase. A nice property has come up, 2 bed maisonette ground and upper with a basement flat that someone already owns. Its immaculate inside, great local facilities and a good price. 81 years left on lease, 900 a year maintenance cost and 15 quid ground rent a year. Its a perfect first property but im clueless with the freehold/leasehold stuff. Whats the potential pitfalls of such a deal with that length lease? Any info that i should be looking into before setting our hearts on it? As a new buyer, i know zero about buying houses so im sure there is someone here that can share some wisdom with me.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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There are no major pitfalls as such. Ground rent and service charge are the big ones. Length of lease only becomes an issue when it gets really low, and that's only because it becomes harder to sell due to the potential complications when it comes to lease renewal.
The majority of flats and maisonettes are leasehold so unless you go for a house you're unlikely to have much choice.
[Edited on 27-03-2012 by James]
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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Mine is leasehold. No problems. Monthly service charge of £50 which covers:
Buildings insurance
Cleaning of stairs etc
Decorating/painting
Anything to do with the car park
Anything to do with the fence
Gutting the grass etc
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Gary
Premium Member
Registered: 22nd Nov 06
Location: West Yorkshire
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Might as well rent. Anyone who buys lease is daft imo.
Your gonna be sat on more and more nevative equity as time goes on.
What if you decide to sellnin 30/40 years? Who's gonna buy a property with that little left on the lease?
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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quote:
Originally posted by Gary
Might as well rent. Anyone who buys lease is daft imo.
Your gonna be sat on more and more nevative equity as time goes on.
What if you decide to sellnin 30/40 years? Who's gonna buy a property with that little left on the lease?
Said without a clue of how leasehold works, obviously.
If you renew the lease at the right time you can add 99 years on for just a few hundred quid.
[Edited on 28-03-2012 by AndyKent]
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Gary
Might as well rent. Anyone who buys lease is daft imo.
Your gonna be sat on more and more nevative equity as time goes on.
What if you decide to sellnin 30/40 years? Who's gonna buy a property with that little left on the lease?
You clearly don't know what leasehold means 
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Gary
Premium Member
Registered: 22nd Nov 06
Location: West Yorkshire
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Apologies, I was under the impression you weren't guarenteed the renewal at the end of your lease like with commercial property
[Edited on 28-03-2012 by Gary]
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VegasPhil
Premium Member
Registered: 16th Jan 05
Location: Fareham, Hants Drives: Octavia VRS
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Lease is a little on the low side. If it gets to 75 or less people start asking questions about extending.
If its ex council it will be cheap. If its a company it could cast thousands. We have one going through where the costs of extending are around £10k 
Corsa 2.0 16v Vegas - Sold
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Tom J
Organiser: South Wales
Premium Member
Registered: 8th Sep 03
Location: Bridgend
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you need to ask the price of extending lease really just to be sure
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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You can pretty much calculate it yourself - leasehold advisory service website has a calculator
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whitter45
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Registered: 15th Nov 02
Location: Norton
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Previous house was leasehold. I paid 55 a year ground rent.
Drawback if ou wish to extend in any way I.e connservatory or extension you need to request permission from landlord which is chargeable. Also some stipulate regs against tree being planted and bush types etc
You can also buy out of it. Normally worth 10 times Annual charge.
My father has just bought out of his at 33k he had to pay
[Edited on 28-03-2012 by whitter45]
[Edited on 28-03-2012 by whitter45]
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StuartVRS
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Registered: 9th Feb 03
Location: Bromley Common, Greater London
User status: Offline
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there is 81 years on the lease, but reading up there is something called marriage value when the lease drops below 80 when trying to extend the lease. The estate agents entioned the current owner looked into extending it recently and was quoted 7500 to add 75 years iirc. Property is up for £169,999, no garden or drive and near a railway bridge, so its cheap for a reason. Sadly, this area is 240k for a 2 bed apartment in a block of flats (new build) or the same for 2-3 bed houses and its just too much for a first house. Ill do some research with the estate agent, see what they can dig up.
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StuartVRS
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Registered: 9th Feb 03
Location: Bromley Common, Greater London
User status: Offline
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http://www.georgeproctor.co.uk/ViewProperty.aspx?adid=2082661
Thats the property. Tis a nice one for me, wife and 4 year old daughter. The lower basement bit is a flat thats been bought previous, we would have the ground and upper. Id like to see if there is the option to make that shit bit at front a drive. Garden means sod all to me anyway, massive park 3 mins walk away, tesco 3 mins walk away, school we want for y girl 5 mins away.
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