What happens when a leasehold ends and whats the benefit?

[BetterCallBarry]

After the 900 years what happens to the property?

And why would someone create something that doesn't benefit them or their family in the future?

Its strange to me asthenia original freeholder will be dead when the property is returned to them.

Is there a family of land owners who own it in the end?

I understand that your nan was unaware but people buying or owning flats need to be aware that renewing a lease is not too expensive as long as you don't let it get below 80 years. That is a mistake your nan unfortunately made as she was probably never told but I don't want others to make the same mistake. Solicitors will probably make people aware these days but some people do still fall into the trap.

@GiltEdges no it was a freehold flat. That's why the mortgage company wouldn't touch it!

That makes zero sense

I've got a leasehold property and will have to extend it in a few years before it drops below 80 years and I have to pay more to the freeholder. In London it's hard to get a maisonette that isn't leasehold. I'm guessing the mortgage company didn't want the freehold flat in case something happens to the roof etc, and not everyone may pay for repairs.

In Ireland it’s freehold flats too.

there is a management company who look after the building - painting communal areas etc. they will budget for work too etc planting roof garden etc and paying things like insurance for the building. All tenants must pay the management fees.

the management company can be run by the tenants themselves, in my brothers case they sacked the original company set up by the developer and took it over (not uncommon). My brother is on his board along with an engineer and an architect.

It makes perfect sense! The mortgage company doesn’t want to risk the security if the building needs a new roof and all the freeholders have to pay/arrange. With flats, it’s often far easier/less risky if there is a freeholder who takes care of these things, even if costs are then recouped from the leaseholders.

Plenty of lenders will lend on freehold flats but I can see why some wouldn’t.

I'm guessing you mean it is a share of freehold flat.

I'm surprised a mortgage company wouldn't lend - infact I believe mortgage companies often prefer share of freehold as you're not then subject to the whims of an external freeholder. I myself have a share of freehold maisonette and had no problem getting a mortgage...

@Getoffmyshoes

whats stopping the freeholder going bust or not doing necessary works, the tenants at least have an incentive to do the works.

Many management companies have sinking funds - get a little extra fees at the start when maintenance is low to hold in reserve for emergencies or works they know will be necessary. This is agreed at management meeting with all the tenants allowed to attend.

If that's the case that she was not told by her conveyancing solicitor or the EA that the lease needed to be extended then she'd have a case against them for negligence. We stupidly (because we'd forgotten it needed to be done) let the lease on our old flat dip below by ONE year and it cost us £20k to extend instead of £10k. We also had to pay the freeholder £10k for what was basically fresh air between our ceiling and the roof so we could do a loft extension as the loft space hadn't been demised to the lease.

A "share of freehold" flat is still leasehold though - you have purchased both the leasehold and a share of the freehold (I used to own one myself). You will still have a leasehold period - ours was around 80 years when we purchased, so we chatted to the other freeholder, filled in some paperwork for the solicitors and had both flats extended to 999 years so it wouldn't cause an issue for future buyers 🙂

A purely freehold flat can cause issues with mortgaging in England at least, as previous posters have said, as if an issue arose with the overall structure it could be hard to compell other freeholders to help pay for repairs & the flat could then be devalued (I.e. if the roof caved in!). Our buyer initially told her solicitor the flat was freehold and we had to quickly clarify it was leasehold + a share of the freehold as they started making worried noises 😂

www.ccpc.ie/consumers/housing/apartments-and-duplexes/management-fees/

this is how it works in Ireland

I have to admit I don't understand your last paragraph - you can't get purely freehold flats in England. They are either leasehold, or share of freehold.

They are rare but they do exist.

www.ker.co.uk/freehold-flats-what-is-the-problem-and-how-can-i-fix-it/

@Sniffypete tried to buy one but couldn't mortgage it, hence this long chain of replies 🙂

Looks like I stand corrected! Interesting - must be extremely rare

@AwkwardPaws27

per my post, in ireland we have laws to enforce payment of management fees (per my earlier post)

Sounds like Ireland & Scotland both have far better systems than England 🙂