To buy a flat with a 60 year lease?

[Flossyfloof]

It will see me out, that's for sure, but I think ideally you would want a longer term? This flat is sticking, I think because the agents have tried to contact the freeholder to enquirer about extending the lease but not got any response.
My understanding is that the shorter the lease the less desirable the property, so aibu to buy if?

Natsku
Yes, but it makes maintenance of the building much less complicated.

Why is the agent trying to extend the lease? Surely that should be up to the current owner (friend of the person who died?) - although I can understand why the agents are making enquiries if the owner is dragging their feet.

Whoever extends the lease has to negotiate with the freeholder.

Been looking it up, understand it now, can see it has advantages and disadvantages, but seems anything under 80 years on the lease makes it start losing its value so a 60 year lease doesn't sound too good unless you're getting it well under value.

Bit different where I live, buildings are owned by housing companies and when you buy a flat you buy a share in the company equal to the size of your flat and covers your share of the plot of land then its yours but you have to pay extra for building maintenance costs, so more like a commonhold rather than a leasehold.

It certainly isn't under value! Been in the market about 5 months, slightly reduced after a month. Still over though and even more so in the light of comments and advice above, which have been really useful. Thank you very much.

I would only buy with the condition that the lease is extended by the current owner before completion. If the flat is on at the same price as other flats with longer leases, it suggests that the agents have over-valued it.

Anyway, it seems a moot point because you will not get a mortgage for it, so are unlikely to buy it. The seller should be targeting cash buyer investors rather than first time home-buyers.

60 years is a bad idea if you don't extend. If you needed to sell, you'd struggle.

However, once you've owned it for over 2 years, you have a statutory right to extend by another 90 (unless the owner is the crown and a few rare exceptions, but the crown agree to abide by it). There is an online calculator you can use to calculate an idea of what the premium will be.

In a nutshell the premium is made up of 3 parts and if the lease is over 80 years, you only pay 2 of them - another reason why banks usually only lend on 80+.

You can be sure that the price will reflect the short lease, so for example it's not really a £100,000 flat, it's a £120,000 flat.

You can find out who the landlord is for a £4 land registry search.

If the landlord cannot be traced, there are statutory procedures to extend when you have a missing freeholder.

So in conclusion: YANBU, but expect to pay a fair amount to extend and for it to take time and be a bit of hassle. All do-able but be prepared :)

The lease.org website referred to above is essential reading.

• sorry "need to be sure" not "can be sure"!!

As a previous poster says wait two years and you can extend the lease

The current leaseholder can also serve the notice to extend now, and assign that notice to you, so you're not waiting two years. There is also some procedure in place to deal with absentee freeholders, but I expect it's expensive and drawn out.

If you're serious about the place get a good specialist lawyer on board pronto.