Can we talk purchasing share in Freehold Pls. Help & Advice needed

[Tillyboo]

Thoughts ? Can't decide if it's a good idea or not.
It's my sisters property but we have a monetary interest in it.

The main reason is to reduce extortionate service charges which have so far been £1,400 this year. Not sure what the money has been spent on yet but will find out this weekend !

The Lease is well over the 80yr threshold deemed to be dodgy.
There are 9 other residents wanting to split the cost. Our share would be £5,000 which seems quite high to me ?

Thanks ! Any help or advice would be great

My experience was that purchasing a share of the freehold brought down the expenses a lot. The main reason was that the freeholder/their agents had no incentive to keep costs down. Quite the contrary, they received a percentage as a service charge, so it was actually in their interests to spend more. Once the flat owners were running things, we had every incentive to keep the costs down, because it was our own money we were spending.

There is really no way for us internet fairies to know if £5000 is high or not, without a lot more information that you probably wouldn't want to give on this public forum. There is a standard formula that is set out in the legislation for determining the price. It takes into account the amount of the ground rent, length of the leases and various other factors.

Get in touch with the Leasehold Advisory Service, they will be able to give you detailed advice. They have a helpline 020 7383 9800.

That's great Fubbsy, thanks !