Lease / freehold

anuprising

hi . I bought a house 16 years ago and the title on the house was 238 years left on a lease .The previous owner had bought the freehold years ago but lost the document.
question is who would I approach to try get a copy of the freehold or is it any advantage to me if selling the house to have the freehold rather than lease ?

thanks

D3PO

anuprising wrote: »

hi . I bought a house 16 years ago and the title on the house was 238 years left on a lease .The previous owner had bought the freehold years ago but lost the document.
question is who would I approach to try get a copy of the freehold or is it any advantage to me if selling the house to have the freehold rather than lease ?

thanks

if he had bought the freehold there would be no lease left... So Id be pretty sure your not freehold at all.

You can check this online however. You wouldn't need any document if its freehold its freehold.

Alternatively your solicitor should have your folio number if it ends in the letter L its leasehold if it ends in the letter F its freehold.

As for an advantage, its not a big thing but if you are leasehold and haven't paid ground rent for the past 16 years then you would need to sort this before selling and whilst at it Im sure the seller would request you buy out the lease.

Its not likely to be a deal breaker but having freehold would be slightly more advantageous.

coolemon

Sorry to hijack thread but after 238 years, who or what would remember to start charging ground rent? I just dont get it. The house im living in has a leasehold of 250 odd years, 80 of which are used up. Id find it bizzare if someone remembers when its up and whoever owns the property in the future will start getting a bill in the door for ground rent...

TheDriver

What happened in one town is a local solicitor copped on that a row of houses was in that situation and bought the ground rents from someone with had died and no relatives or something similar and suddenly introduced quite big rents or offered to sell them to resident for a hefty fee.

Chris_5339762

coolemon wrote: »

Sorry to hijack thread but after 238 years, who or what would remember to start charging ground rent? I just dont get it. The house im living in has a leasehold of 250 odd years, 80 of which are used up. Id find it bizzare if someone remembers when its up and whoever owns the property in the future will start getting a bill in the door for ground rent...

In London a bunch of 100 year leaseholds are coming up for expiry soon I think (within the next 10-15 years anyway). Not sure what will happen.

D3PO

coolemon wrote: »

Sorry to hijack thread but after 238 years, who or what would remember to start charging ground rent? I just dont get it. The house im living in has a leasehold of 250 odd years, 80 of which are used up. Id find it bizzare if someone remembers when its up and whoever owns the property in the future will start getting a bill in the door for ground rent...

Firstly the ground rents would be due now not in 238 years.

Secondly the issue although not really an issue now is that in future if you handed down the house to say your children is that as the lease gets closer to expiring you could have more difficulty selling it unless your sort the leasehold situation out.

Technically you don't own the ground that the house in built on and therefore are potentially at the mercy of the landlord. Its not really an issue now like I said its a down the line thing.

StillWaters

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

In London a bunch of 100 year leaseholds are coming up for expiry soon I think (within the next 10-15 years anyway). Not sure what will happen.

They can simply buy out the freehold, however the problem is the cost of doing so (called Marriage Value) gets higher the shorter the term left on the leasehold.