Offer Accepted,Front garden leasehold EA claiming its Freehold.

[M8TTY]

I really have a burning question.
So we saw a property on RM went in view it ,made an offer.so later doing more researching found out the house and the back garden is freehold but the front garden is lease hold.We contact the EA with our findings and ask them to clarify in writing that both the front and the back garden are freehold,
The EA gets back and claim that both are freehold.and clearly on HM land Registry it only back garden and the house are freehold.

In addition the house is substandard and have heard it’s really hard to get a mortgage on them.what do we do as we have not involved the solicitor yet and the Offer just got accepted the other day??

I can’t think of any beneficial reason (for you) for such a setup.
I would walk away.

Doesn’t exactly sound like a great option. Leave it.

Withdraw your offer. It sounds like a whole load of stress.

Just back out. State EA giving incorrect information as your reason.

You pull out.

Run for the hills, is my best advice!

It sounds like a lot of trouble. I'd withdraw the offer and keep looking.

Don’t proceed

Not worth the hassle.
What do you mean by sub standard?

Do you mean it’s non standard construction, rather than sub standard?

Forget it. There will be a better house out there for you. It all sounds a huge problem .

I’m not sure what you mean by “ the house is substandard”. Non- standard construction, or that it needs lots of work doing? Was it reflected in asking price?

The issue of leasehold/freehold - forward the EA the land registry stuff, and get them to explain really clearly how the front can be freehold when LR says otherwise.

You don’t sound madly keen on the house - walking away at this stage is much better for everyone than doing so later.

Just walk away, tell them you’re withdrawing your offer, sounds like a load of unnecessary hassle

Non-standard constructions are usually marketed for cash/investment buyers due to the mortgage issue. The leasehold front garden sounds very weird! Did the agent actually check with the vendors? If you’re really very interested then yes forward the registry documents/plan as reference and ask the vendor to clarify. But it sounds like it’s not going to be the one doesn’t it?

Sometimes newer freehold properties and ex-council properties are sold with the front garden as leasehold to uphold the character and look of the neighbourhood and prevent people turning their front garden into additional driveway or multi-car parking spaces or using them for storage, which could look unsightly. That in itself wouldn’t be an insurmountable issue for me.

A non-standard construction property that’s difficult to mortgage is far more concerning, and I’d walk away on that basis. Lenders’ criteria change over time and even if you were able to get a mortgage now you might find it difficult to remortgage or that buyers in the future we’re unable to get mortgages.

Am really keen on the property don’t get me wrong as we have been looking for the past 6months.
We have sent the EA our findings and waiting for them to get back as I don’t think they knew either,who knows!

So basically doing more research the house was built in the 60’s and has never been sold before, it is made of concrete. The nearby house on the street that was sold last was through a commercial mortgage.
The front garden that is so massive in front of the house and fenced you can’t really do much to it as per the lease rights and obligations.
This is just some of the information we have found so far without solicitors being involved yet.
I know sellers too feel bad about us buyers withdrawing offers everytime,but clearly I feel like they should provide the EA with much information as possible to buyers .and that the buyer completely knows what they are walking into.
Other than us finding more information about properties then changing our minds or we know we have been told this but what will it take for us to mend it,is it worth it? I feel it will make it easy for both the seller and buyer in this case.

I Don’t know if that made sense.

The sellers may not even be aware if they inherited the house and never bothered to check the deeds.

You may find it impossible to get a mortgage. Concrete houses can suffer from concrete cancer. Also consider that if you do manage to buy it, resale might also be difficult. These 'non standard construction' houses can look like a bargain, with plenty of space inside and out for many of them, but they are really not.
I would find something else.

It’s probably most suitable as a building plot by the sounds of things!