(Can't ask the sellers- its on the behalf of an estate).

Estate agents gave me the stock reply "usually they are 999yr leases from when the house was new" (yes I really didnt beleive him).

Never come across a leasehold house before- interesting reading on google etc.

Hes closing line was 'you will find out how much is left in the Solicitors searches'. Now I really don't want to spend money to find out its low <60yrs.

Is this info available to Estate agents?

It's available via the land registry or deeds. They will have to pay for it though I would imagine through either route (deeds will be hold by the bank normally). The seller will usually know, but in the case of an estate you may be out of luck.

It's very common to find 99 year leases in That London, and 999 year leases outside of That London. It's less common to find differing lengths – I spent a few months working at a conveyancing solicitors and I don;t recall seeing any leaseholds other than 999 years.

Whenever I've seen a leasehold property for sale the details have always indicated how many years left – obviously you'd still need to get this verified but seems odd to me to have no idea up front.

I've seen this occasionally as well. Its alittle worrying when they say 'don't know/your Solicitor will know' (as soon as you start the meter running)

of course they should know
by the way a 999 year leashold is almost the same as freehold

Hmmm our place is leasehold (around 900 years to go at £2 pa)

We just asked the estate agent, and they told us, why can't the agent ask the people representing the estate?

As long as the lease has more than 80 or so years left (I'm sure someone will confirm the exact number) you have a legal right to extend it anyway without incurring marriage value.

[edit] Although to be honest, I wouldn't trust an estate agent to tell me the right time.

most modern apartments come with quite a short leasehold C. 99. The estate agent should know if they are selling the property on your behalf.

999yr LH is not uncommon IME

If it's a probate sale then I'd imagine it's unlikely that the agents will know- anyway, everything that they tell you needs to be confirmed by the buyer or their agents, down to the size of the rooms etc. In a normal sale, they can tell you it's got a 999 year lease, and it might only have 50.
Like you say though, you need to start spending to confirm what you're interested in buying- and you can lose all you've spent up to the time you exchange contracts
Consider yourself lucky that you're not buying at auction- in auction listings you don't get much more than the address to work on in a lot of cases.

If it's a probate sale then I'd imagine it's unlikely that the agents will know

I know but the agent is dealing directly with the Solicitor handling the sale on behalf of the beneficiary (son). Surely he has all the paperwork/deeds etc to hand.

Probalby he does. whether the estate agent can be bothered chasing it up for someone who dithers and will probably walk away is another matter

Agent has been very good so far- and Ive returned his calls immediately etc. What I wont do is be led down a merry-path where I am paying for 'you'll find that out in due-course' when he could enlighten me before.

The house needs alot of updating (old dear sadly passed away in the kitchen) but its sound and I've been clear and precise on where I am coming from to him. I know that playing hard to get hold etc of can cause reverse-problems. I'm not that green nbt! …although I am tighter than a Scotsman….bigger discount requests and umming and arring over info later on may be asked 😀

LOL!

He may not be able to say.

Back in the day I was an Estate Agency. At that time if you did not know then you could not say.

Knowing meant that you had to see the deeds or have a solicitor tell you, you could not accept the word of the owner.

The law may have changed, always seemed daft to me it means being deliberately obstructive

I see lots of 'we are told by the owner' and 'purchaser to confirm' type statements on property details.

I see lots of 'we are told by the owner' and 'purchaser to confirm' type statements on property details.

You mean avoiding any sort of implied liability……or can also be construed as 'its not great hence Im saying we dont know/you'll find out later once you are well on your way with this so too late to pull out'…

happens in recruitment with shit agents- half-truths etc instead of honesty.

do they know how long a leasehold is on a house they are selling?

They should do, since in a leasehold, that is what they are selling, not the house.

I offered on a flat where the owners nor estate agents knew how long the lease was, but they said it was "certainly longer than 80 years". 80 years was long enough for me, but by the time all the solicitors got involved I discovered it was 73 years. I was certainly miffed! Ended up renogatiating the price, but I'd already mentally bought the house by then, so it didn't really work in my favour.

Lesson learned – ALWAYS FIND OUT BEFORE YOU OFFER.