To ask if anyone has a freehold flat?

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I own a leasehold flat and rent it out, the management company have offered the chance to purchase the freehold as long as 50% of flat owners agree to proceed.

I provisionally agreed as I know freehold would be more appealing when it comes to selling, nothing has gone ahead yet and I haven't paid anything but I'm already having doubts.

Another flat owner has emailed us a list of what must be 45 questions with things we need to consider, another person has emailed xyz renovation works they want to carry out and how we'll fund this.

I don't have spare money for things like this, I make zero from renting out my flat, I moved away due to work but didn't want to sell yet. I also don't have time to deal with what it sounds like they're expecting.

I'd rather just pay a monthly service charge as I have been, I don't want to get drawn into disputes, billed hundreds or thousands and constant whatsapp messages, I've not got time for that.

I've just been put off already, does anyone else have a similar setup?

I mean share of freehold.
My current service charge is £115 per month and over 105 years on lease so it isn't too bad, I plan to sell in next couple of years.

I think freehold is a really good idea for smaller developments. Daughter is currently going through purchase of management and freehold of her block, but is in a block of only 8 in an Victorian conversion. It will add value, and is much less hassle.

There is the rub, it gives you more control but also more work and you have got to get in with your neighbours too.

We own share of freehold. We pay £1500 per year for management fees, and the owners sit on the board of directors. Everytime someone purchases the freehold we receive a small amount of money each, so it’s worth it IMO.

Hi OP. I own a flat with a share of freehold.

We are a relatively large development so we have hired a management company to run the day to day business and are lucky that a few motivated owners are willing to put a lot the of work in. In terms of engagement- there is a WhatsApp group, an AGM and occasionally decisions to take.

In terms of costs, my service charge is lower than yours is. Major works costs can come at any time with the right notice being given, we will shortly have to stump up a few £k to meet the latest regs on fire doors. However, this can happen whoever your freeholder is- legally they can pass on any costs like this to the leaseholders.

A problem with absentee freeholders is that they may not bother with maintenance works like this- great in the short term if you don't want to spend money, but in the medium term it can make the flat very difficult to mortgage and therefore sell. This has happened to a friend of ours who is renting out a flat which is essentially unsellable until the freeholder sorts out the right maintenance and paperwork. In their case they at least make a comfortable profit on the rent, but it's far from ideal.

I've owned two freehold flats in my time and they've been relatively hassle free. It all depends on 1. how good your management company is and 2. how involved and committed other freeholders are. Both flats were part of a large development about 120-150 properties in each. We had quarterly meetings where we decided on budget, repairs etc. and there was an annual meeting where the management company gave us briefing about how they spent our money and outlined plans for the following year.
We did not have a whatsapp group - I couldn't possibly cope with that.

I also rented a flat which wash freehold in a small development of 12 flats and they had a very involved manager who lived on site so he, along with his wife who was a secretary, managed the affairs without having to outsource it to the external company. As a tenant, it was slightly intimidating but the building ran like clockwork.

I have a purpose built Edwardian maisonette, one of just 2, each with its own front door on the street, one up, one down.

I ended up buying the FH of both, since the former freeholder, and owner of the one I bought, had apparently vanished, which caused PITA problems with the purchase. In fact he was living 3 miles away under another name, because of debts attached to the FH!

There are lots of this sort of property in SW London, and IMO they’re a much better buy than flats in blocks. Typically the ground rent* is low, service charges are pretty much non existent, and they often come with a little garden or at least some outside space.

The owner (leaseholder) of the other m’ette pays IIRC £30 PA ground rent, and no service charges.

I’ve had experience of both.

I much preferred the leasehold but we had a very good managing agent.

The difficulty with freehold can be how realistic people are. Of course, certain things can be sorted out easily. But for example, if you are in a big block of flats, are there residents who are happy to take charge of things like fire safety? Quite often people will shout about the cost of things without realising how much it takes to sort it out yourself.

I hope most people would look at the management and realise that they need to employ a managing agent. You could run into problems if everyone decides that they can sort it out themselves though.

Some of this will cancel out with how much it will cost you initially and how much you think it would add to the value of the flat.

In a vote, I would probably vote against it. But these situations are incredibly individual.

Also, people seem to be very anti-leasehold generally, which is going to be an issue for selling.