Purchasing freehold before selling

[Worriedmum40284]

We've just had enquiries in from our buyer's solicitor. One of the queries is whether we would be willing to purchase the freehold for our leasehold property so it can be sold with a freehold title.

Does anyone have any experience of this or know whether this is a fairly standard request? The lease has well over 950 years left on it and there is 0 ground rent payable. There is a service charge but think that's entirely separate?

I'm not sure if it's even possible/affordable.

The property was advertised, viewed and offered on as a leasehold property.

If it's affordable it's worthwhile. It will add value and make your property more attractive compared to others in the same price bracket

Thanks, I do understand it would make it more attractive when adverrisinf but feel we are past that point now as we are already under offer and the buyer knew this when they made the offer? We're a little way through the process now too, survey completed etc. and this is the first time they mentioned it.

The town we live in has a fair amount of leasehold houses.

Are they asking you to buy it, or to start the process of buying it for them as you have passed the 2 year eligibility point?

As the current owner of presumably more than two years you can buy the leasehold but the new owners won't be able to for 2 years. If they wish to own the freehold then the only way to do it for now is through you. If they agree to pay for it then I don't see what the issue is with helping them out. I personally wouldn't even view a property that was leasehold, but others may view it and offer to buy it on the condition that they can also have you purchase the freehold. I don't think it's that unusual at all. Always find it odd when people are so against it.

About ten years ago we bought ours. We paid £3 a year. It cost about £700 to buy the freehold. I don't know how much it would be in today's money and with the new rules but at the time they could set any price, I think, and we thought 700 was reasonable to not have to get permission for building etc and to resell more easily.

That's interesting, I didn't know there was a 2 year eligibility point so that helps make sense of it a little bit more. I wouldn't be adverse to it if they were willing to cover costs but there has been no mention of that. My other reservation is that it's only been mentioned now, around 3 months into the whole process and, from what I've heard, it's not necessarily a quick thing to do so could hold up our onward purchase.

A 950 year lease. That’s huge. This is usually a query for under 80 years.

The rules one leashold changed just before the election was called it removes the 2 year requirement. Maybe the conveyancers haven't caught up yet.

www.gov.uk/government/news/leasehold-reforms-become-law

We were selling a house on behalf of a relative that had gone into care. The property was leasehold and it had a long lease. As we were not going to benefit from the sale of the house we would not pay to get the freehold. As the house was being bought by property developers they really wanted it freehold and they asked the solicitor several times and his reply was it was a leasehold property that was being sold. Eventually they gave up.

950 years? I doubt the planet will even be habitable by then. That's like 30 generations! They are bonkers.

This will definitely hold up the sale for several months unfortunately with no guarantee they'd buy it still at the end. I'd say no, it has a long lease and they can purchase it themselves once they buy it. Maybe find out the cost if it's easy for you to do so.

Wonder if they are looking for an excuse to pull out.

We were once asked to start the process of buying the freehold before moving as the new owners wouldn’t be able to do so for 2 years after moving in according to the old rules. We were told by the EA it wouldn’t cost much for us to just start the process as we wouldn’t be completing the process, the new buyers would.

But this was on a flat with a lease of under 90 years. It seems a crazy request on a property with such a long lease and I believe the rules have changed anyway- check with your solicitor.

@Keepingittogetherstepbystep the Act hasn’t been implemented yet. That probably won’t be at least until next year.

How easy was it to sell? I get your buyers’ point but if it’s common for your town and would hold up your sale, tell them no.

What is the buyers point though where the lease has 950 years left to run?

Absolutely do not buy the freehold. I owned mine and it was a nightmare for selling. They can look into purchasing it after if they wish.

If you wish to sell the freehold you have to serve notice on all other leaseholders first and the notice period is 2 months I think. Total faff.

It would probably add a huge amount of time to the sales process for you. I would probably just say no given the new rules, you don't need the headache - they can deal with it when they own the property if they want to buy the freehold.

@Twiglets1 freehold is always preferable. Plus the reasons for banning new leasehold houses, which I get don’t apply to OP but they probably think all leasehold houses are bad.

Yes I get their reasons for wanting to buy the freehold.

But I don’t understand the rush when it has 950 years to run. They can buy the freehold when they own it if they want to.

What sort of property is it? Would you be buying the whole freehold or sharing it with others?

You won't have time to buy it without holding up your onward purchase. If yours is a flat in a building, the freeholder has to given the other owners the option to buy their share of the freehold at the same time and they'll have a deadline of two months to make a decision, sort the financing and arrange the paperwork, which will involve them needing to engage a solicitor. It may take them the full two months.

If the buyers are that keen, they can buy the freehold themselves once your sale has completed. Given you have a 950-year lease, it shouldn't be that expensive for them. For contrast, our lease was only at 95 years and our share of the freehold (Victorian terrace in London) was about £18k.

You sound as if you're assuming that the property is a flat. There are many leasehold houses with 900+ year leases in certain parts of the country. The OP hasn't specified whether flat or house - your advice is totally irrelevant if it's a house.

I presume because they think ALL leasehold houses are scary @Twiglets1 . People aren’t always rational when buying a home.

I'd just say no. They go through it 2 years after sale.

This will delay your sale for months, it's an unreasonable request.