Leasehold house

thewhitetable

Hello!

I had my offer accepted on a house, paid estate agent deposit, did survey and was ready to sign and pay full deposit when I found out on the title deeds that its a leasehold house with under 100 years left. I was surprised by this!! Everyone tells me its an easy thing to sort out. I would like the seller to buy the freehold before I sign but that does not seem to be ok. If its such an easy thing to do I can't really understand why they don't just do it, it makes me suspicious that its not such an easy thing after all. If I bought the house and found a problem later on I imagine the house would not be worth half what I paid for it. Any opinions or advice?? I REALLY love the house but not happy to sign with the situation as it is.

Thanks!

seamus

Ask your solicitor what they advise.

Some vendors at the moment are cocky as hell and not under any pressure to sell, so will happily let a property fester on the market till they find someone who'll take it off them for minimum hassle.

thewhitetable

Thanks Seamus. I think I have offered a fair price and I think most people would not be happy buying a leasehold house. If I pulled out I imagine they would need to sort it anyway but maybe it is an extra hassle for them. Going back and forth from solicitors at the moment as they try to find out who owns the leasehold interest.

AfterHrsProp

thewhitetable wrote: »

Thanks Seamus. I think I have offered a fair price and I think most people would not be happy buying a leasehold house. If I pulled out I imagine they would need to sort it anyway but maybe it is an extra hassle for them. Going back and forth from solicitors at the moment as they try to find out who owns the leasehold interest.

It's often quite easy to buy out the freehold of a property but a fee obviously would be required & the solicitor will charge you for the extra work also. I'm assuming that this is what the vendor is trying to avoid. This is the best case scenario, if there's other issues over the title I would be very reluctant to continue with the purchase.

It's important not to let the fact that you may love the property override common sense. Treat property as an investment

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antoinolachtnai

You really need to have your solicitor's advice on whether the title is good.

A good 'check' is to ask whether the bank will be happy with the leasehold as security. If they are, there is a strong possiblity everything will be fine.

Buying out an old ground rent does take quite a bit of time, especially if the lessor cannot be located.

I bought a house under circumstances that were probably similar. There were 74 years left on the 99 year lease. From memory, it took a year or so to buy out the leasehold.

a.

Uno my Uno.

There is no problem with the situation as outlined by the OP and there should be no difficulty in proceeding on the basis of a leasehold title which (under normal circumstances) can be converted to a freehold without difficulty.

On the Facts provided by the OP the Title presented for sale is good and marketable, it is not a reasonable request to make of the vendor to acquire the Freehold at this point because of the time it takes to do so through the Ground Rents section of the Land Registry. Looking to withdraw because the title is Leasehold is entirely irrational in my view. In these circumstances there is no practical difference between leasehold and freehold title.

The OP should speak to their Solicitor and ask if the Title presented from by the Vendor is "Good and Marketable" and if it is acceptable to the Mortgage provider. The OP should then ask if it will be possible to Buy out the Freehold and ask their solicitor for an estimate of the cost of doing so. Unless there is a complication arising from the answers to one of these questions the OP can proceed without concern.

spaceHopper

When we bought our house it was lease hold, a lot of house in Dublin are, but you can buy it out. Go ahead with the sale and after you close buy it out.

It’s only money and paper work but take a bit of time, our solicitor made us get the names of the people two doors either side of us and wrote to them informing them we were buying out the lease hold then logged papers with the land registery then we got the free hold.

It costs between 1000 and 1500 euros. Your solicitor will be able to give you a figure. Because you can easily but out the leasehold the bank will have no issues.

You could try to get the vendors to buy it out now but it will slow everything down easily longer than three months, how much is your rent? You could look to split the cost with them and do it later.

thewhitetable

Thanks very much everyone. I was unsure if I was being awkward asking for the freehold to be sorted before I sign. But from what you guys are saying if its "Good" then buying afterwards should be no problem and not a reason to pull out. It is my decision in the end. Thanks!