FabSwingers.com forum: Leasehold flats

By *hirley147 OP TV/TS
12 weeks ago

Blackpool

What have your experiences been with leasehold flats? Thinking of buying one with 87 years left on the lease. I know I have to extend before 80 or it will cost loads more because of marriage value? How was your experience with them?

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By *itygamesMan
12 weeks ago

Never buy leasehold

You dont own the land so pointless.

Service charges per month are horrendous.

Look for a 1 bed house or bungalow

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By *ootyfruityCouple
12 weeks ago

andover

"Never buy leasehold

You dont own the land so pointless.

Service charges per month are horrendous.

Look for a 1 bed house or bungalow "

Where we are, a bungalow is more expensive than a 3 or 4 bed house!

Nothing wrong with leasehold as long as there are plenty of years left on the lease, also a great way onto the ladder, flat prices still go up

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By *rucking-HellMan
12 weeks ago

Northampton

I wouldn't touch fleecehold with a bargepole.

The "maintenance" charges are horrendous. I've seen crappy 1 bed flats with annual maintenance charges of £2000+ with £400 ground rent on top. That's £200 per month before council tax, mortgage, and bills.

The problem is, the maintenance companies have realised they can fleece you as much as they like, and many have doubled their charges in the last 12 months, on a whim. The law is on their side. So there's no reason why they can't increase them again in the next 12 months.

Look around on the net. It's full of horror stories of these charges going up so much that they're often more than the mortgage.

0% ownership, 100% responsibility. Leasehold is both a scam and a trap.

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By *midnight-Woman
12 weeks ago

...

So my solicitor scared me off renewing the lease, implying it would increase under some review from £6 a year to potentially £2k plus, so i bought the freehold - cost me around £5k or £7k to purchase 12 years ago and i think it was down to 60 or 70 years (from 200ish years), so in the marriage scenario. My solicitor /lawyer was furious at the amount i paid and wanted to challenge it but i wanted to sell, so just paid it.

Ask your solicitor for quote, then ask the vendors to reduce the sale price by that amount (or at lesst go 50:50). It was painful and slow.

Leasehold hold is very common in pockets across the country

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By *ermite12ukMan
12 weeks ago

Solihull and Brentwood

Bought one for £92k with just over 62 years left on the lease.

Sold it for exactly the same....but had to extend the lease to do that. Which I think cost me £28k Came out of it after around 10 years with less than £5k

Would never buy lease hold again.

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By *ouple-perthCouple
12 weeks ago

Perth

Move to Scotland, there no such thing up here

Mrs x

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By *hief_Of_AlwaysMan
12 weeks ago

London or Bedford

"Move to Scotland, there no such thing up here

Mrs x"

Tell me more…

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By *ranny-CrumpetWoman
12 weeks ago

King's Crustacean

I live in a freehold. I've wanted to downsize for a few years now but most flats seem to be leasehold and it seems to me that more and more housing is becoming leasehold.

I cannot get my head around having to pay exorbitant fees to live in a house that I own and so I haven't moved.

Which means fewer properties for people to buy.

All down to greed of landlords.

I am mortgage FREE. Buying leasehold would be worse than paying a mortgage for life.

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By *ngel-ishandtheswingersCouple
12 weeks ago

Colchester

The management charges you pay are for the maintenance of your block and communal areas.

If you own a house, you pay all of these yourself, new roof - your responsibility. Decorating the outside - you pay 100% of this.

Your ground rent is likely to cost £100 - £200 a year. Much more than this and I would definitely be going back to my conveyancer to find out why you weren't told about it. I think you probably were!

Renewing or extending your lease is a pisstake cost wise I agree!

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By (user no longer on site)
12 weeks ago

Extending the length of time on a leasehold will vary in cost depending on where the property is, the length of time left on the lease and the value of the property.

The valuation is undertaken by a surveyor. The freeholder does not have to accept your valuation and can insist on a separate one, which you have to pay for.

The 'marriage' value increases rhe shorter the period left - under 90 years is not great.

The existing leaseholder, if they have been there more than two years may be entitled to ask for a lease extension. That can be 999 years and with a peppercorn ground rent (£0 - zero, not even a penny or a peppercorn). If its a converted house, than the leaseholders may be entitled to buy the freehold - that way you end up getting rid of the freeholder (if a company) and their service charges, and you all own the freehold, but then set up your own body to organise buildings insurance, maintenance costs, etc.

There are websites all about this, both for landlords (freeholders) and leaseholders.

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By *hirley147 OP TV/TS
12 weeks ago

Blackpool

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the feedback x

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By *ayjay39777Man
12 weeks ago

Warrington

One of the worst parts of having a flat is due to the ever changing service charges.

Its funny how it only changes to become more costly and never the other way round!

AVOID FLEECEHOLD AT ALL COST!

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By *icecouple561Couple
Forum Mod
12 weeks ago

East Sussex

I owned a leasehold flat in the late 70s. The service charges were reasonable and never caused me any problems. I was offered the chance with the other leaseholders to buy the freehold.

If you carefully read the terms of the lease and a legal expert considers them fair, safe and reasonable leasehold can be ok. I would say don't dismiss it out of hand but do be cautious, take all possible advice and read the small print...twice.

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By *imisugarWoman
12 weeks ago

Rugby

Avoid if possible.

The service charges can be unreasonable increases with no control over plus contributing to the sinking fund can see a large unexpected invoice coming your way for building maintenance.

I had one as my first property and would never do it again. Would heavily dissuade my children from entering into the same situation.

I lost a lot of money when it came to sell but I was glad to get rid of it at that point. Still had 100 years on the lease.

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By *atnip make me purrWoman
12 weeks ago

Reading

Almost all flats are leasehold. You could contact the company who hold it and ask them how much to extend.

I am in a weird situation as mine is a leasehold, but all of us house owners own as a collective the leasehold, so we can extend for 999 for the cost of the solucitors.

You could ask for a discount or get the present owners to sort it out which they should have done.

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By *ig1gaz1Man
12 weeks ago

bradford

I own a 300+ year old house i can pass it down the generations as i own it outright with the land.

with leasehold i own nothing not even the land

im subjected to charges that can increase and maintenance of the property, yet i still dont own it.

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By *ngel-ishandtheswingersCouple
12 weeks ago

Colchester

"I own a 300+ year old house i can pass it down the generations as i own it outright with the land.

with leasehold i own nothing not even the land

im subjected to charges that can increase and maintenance of the property, yet i still dont own it."

So the maintenance of your place is completely free?

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By *orthernJayMan
12 weeks ago

Canary Wharf

"I own a 300+ year old house i can pass it down the generations as i own it outright with the land.

with leasehold i own nothing not even the land

im subjected to charges that can increase and maintenance of the property, yet i still dont own it.

So the maintenance of your place is completely free? "

He didn’t say that, the point is, you’re subject to increases in maintenance/service charges from the leaseholder (often with zero say) and still have to pay wear & tear maintenance costs to your own property without ever owning the land it sits upon.

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By *orthernJayMan
12 weeks ago

Canary Wharf

To follow up my post above, I lived in a leasehold property, an old and very large converted rectory within beautiful church grounds; the rectory had been converted into nine self contained flats, the leasehold had been sold by the church to a private equity fund.

This entity charged hundreds of pounds a month from nine property owners for “communal grounds and property maintenance”……..long story short, the roof started to leak, imperceptibly at first, we all started noticing damp, mould etc, eventually it leaked rain water post storms.

The management company on behalf of the equity fund did everything they could to obfuscate and muddy the waters; dozens of quotes, debates about listed building status (when the building clearly wasn’t listed).

Eventually, the roof gave way, a deluge of water fused the entire building, the fire service rendered it unsafe; electricity provider isolated the supply rendering the entire property inhabitable.

In the end, owners had no choice but to pay for the roof repairs themselves and lawyer up against the maintenance company and equity fund; the maintenance company filed for immediate bankruptcy!

Owners are still waiting to be compensated and this was five years ago.

Luckily I was short term leasing the flat I lived in so could walk away, I felt so sorry for the owners; many of whom were pensioners and connected to the church for decades.

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