Leasehold house - to buy or not to buy

[Willwebebuyingnumber11]

After months of searching rightmove, we’ve found the perfect house. The exact size & location we wanted.
However, it is leasehold. I’ve contacted the estate agent today who confirmed there is 999 years remaining and the ground rent is £150 pa.
I have emailed back to ask for the percentage and frequency of any ground rent increases and we’ve got a viewing booked for Wednesday evening.
Are we being stupid for even viewing? Is there anything else I need to know? We will ask for a copy of the lease if we decide to proceed, and I will ask whether it’s possible to buy the freehold.
Incase it’s relevant, the house was built in 2001 and from what I can see from online sales history, the rest of the houses on the road are also leasehold.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Pay £3 to get the title description from the Land Registry website (click on gov uk site only) and check what covenants are on the house

@MiaMc

You need to discuss this with someone who knows what they’re talking about OP.

This made me laugh!

Leaseholds can be awful or can be OK. Some people are scared of all leaseholds so they can be tricky to sell. Therefore, if you can:
-buy the leasehold at a cheapish rate
-buy the freehold (important!) and
-if there are no ongoing service charges (important!)
then it could be a way to bag yourself a bargain.

As MiaMc said, speak to someone knowledgeable (your solicitor) about your specific situation.

Thanks everyone for your advice. We ended up cancelling the viewing. We paid the £3 land registry fee for the deed and it was a pretty exhaustive lease to be honest.
There is not one other house on the market we like (apart from another leasehold) so I’m hoping something comes on soon!! Thanks again.

Some excellent advice given!
Bear in mind that leasehold houses will in all probability be cheaper than a similar freehold house so what may look like a bargain comes with strings (or leases ) attached.

Freehold offers more security. So, I would avoid leasehold.

I see you cancelled the viewing OP. I was just coming on to say that these leases are often bundled up and sold on to 3rd parties, much like sub prime mortgages were years ago. I saw an article on the news a couple of years back where this happened and the lease charges rocketed. Leasehold makes sense for apartments but there's really no reason why a house should be.

We’re going to avoid leasehold in future and not even look at the photos if they’re leasehold!

Unfortunately there’s nothing on the market for us so if anyone has a 4 / 5 bedroomed detached house with a decent sized kitchen and a good sized garden in Sheffield please let me know 😂

I'd be weary of newer leaseholds, but older are usually quite safe. I pay £2.63 a year (hasn't changed since 1906) and had to give notice when I extended my home but it's never been a problem. The land belongs to the parish though rather than a business/the highest bidder!