Hi everyone. I've had an offer accepted on a flat, but have realised that there's only 83 years left on the lease.
The property is shared freehold (co-freeholder is downstairs flat) so the estate agent is saying extending the lease would be negligible effort, very simple, very cheap, just a formality etc etc.
I've read that this is generally the case... except when it isn't, and that things can get complicated, especially if there's been a breakdown of communication between co-freeholders. This could potentially leave us with an unsellable/unmortgageable flat, at least until it gets resolved: I understand that some lenders are reluctant to lend when the lease drops to 80 and most won't lend at 70.
This is an expensive flat and I'll be taking on a big mortgage. All the other shared freehold flats I viewed had hundreds of years left on the lease; everyone seems to extend it to 999 when they buy the freehold. I don't know why this one is so short, and, if it's so trivial to extend it, I don't know why the vendors haven't already done it. I don't think we can apply to extend the lease until we've owned the property for 2 years (?).
Most of all, I'm really wary of getting stuck with a property that I can't sell, or whose value massively drops (this is in London, so it's not like the market is filling anyone with confidence).
Help! Am I being too cautious, or is this a legitimate concern? Are there any work-arounds? I will speak to my solicitor, but would really appreciate any advice from people who've dealt with similar.
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.
Property/DIY
83 years left on lease, but...
24 replies
Sencha · 21/06/2018 10:48
OP posts:
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.