We bought our house around 18 months ago, and it is a leasehold with >900 years left on it, and £6/yr ground rent. When buying, it was a bit of a hassle due to the leasehold. I understand that after 2 years, homeowners have a right to purchase the freehold, although I’ve read that the process can be long, expensive and end up not adding much if any value to the property. My one experience with conveyancing solicitors was dreadful, so does anyone have any recommendations for reasonable legals firms to approach (Sheffield area if that matters)? Even if financially there’s not much benefit, I think I’d ‘feel’ better if I actually owned the land my house is on so would be willing to spend perhaps up to a couple grand if necessary.
Cheers,

oops, wrong forum, sorry!

Be careful also if you’ve extended at all. If you have, as soon as you buy the freehold (or sell the property) the council tax will go up a couple of bands.

the council tax value is v unlikely to go up by much if at all.

A peppercorn ground rent with a very long dated reversion will have a very small cost if enfranchising.

This is a very good site
http://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/lease-extension-getting-started/

I enfranchised our block of flats 10 yrs ago. It’s not particularly difficult. A solicitor with experience is a good idea, but you dont have to meet them and can find one to instruct and interact with remotely.
You will bear your landlords legal fees but they ought to be minimal.

Buying in a FH is a good idea generally. Especially if the costs are low as they ought to be in your case unless youve missed out some key facts.

No extension, but there is now a detached garage in the garden which is only about 10 years old. Something to bear in mind though, thanks.

I did it about 5 years ago. Unless things have changed it’s a very straightforward process as there’s a fixed formula for the price, based upon annual ground rent and years remaining.
But the owners of the freehold are usually faceless private investors who do the least possible to assist you, as after all you are diminishing their returns.
Start by making a formal request for a settlement figure.

Even if financially there’s not much benefit, I think I’d ‘feel’ better if I actually owned the land my house is on so would be willing to spend perhaps up to a couple grand if necessary.

Can’t help with the legal but I’d agree it is worth doing. I’ve walked away from a couple of properties now that are leasehold. Partly because it impacts on your ability to do work on the property but also I just don’t like the idea of it.

It’s a really good idea if you can. Look at the Guardian articles over the last few months about developers selling on their leaseholds to investment companies, who them massively increase the rent and devalue to property due to risks for potential future buyers.

Next mis-selling scandal brewing I reckon, but with builders not having the financial clout of banks, could get messy.

Yep, the opportunity for us to buy our flat’s freehold has just come up and we’re in the process of doing it. It’s a bit of a pain with flats as you end up with several interested parties. We’ve ended up setting up a small management company between ourselves but that’s as complicated as it’s got so far. It makes a lot more sense from an insurance point of view as well as all the other reasons others have listed above. I assume a house is more straight forward than a group of flats so I have no reason to recommend not going ahead. Also in the south yorkshire area, using a solicitor in Barnsley but it would be a bit premature for me to recommend them to you as nothing is completed yet – so far so good but you never know!

Freeholds appear in the property auctions so keep an eye out, they arent worth much as low ground rent and as a buyer you wouldnt be v popular appearing on a family house doorstep.

Sadly its the uk legal system that allows it.

Sounds very similar to my previous flat in that you are paying a peppercorn rent rather than the full-fat ground rent.

I suspect that the onus for all property repairs and grounds maintenance has been placed on the you as the leaseholder and your £6 a year doesn’t actually cover any costs at all.

Personally I would not bother worrying about it for £6 a year especially if you have over 900 years to run as the costs will most likely outweigh the benefits of it all. Maybe start worrying about it in 850 years time.

the opportunity for us to buy our flat’s freehold has just come up and we’re in the process of doing it. It’s a bit of a pain with flats as you end up with several interested parties. We’ve ended up setting up a small management company between ourselves but that’s as complicated as it’s got so far.

Just going the opposite way with a flat (free to lease) and complicated is an understatement!
Not sure why you are going freehold as the leasehold flats in the block have a higher value at sale than the freehold ones.

In Sheffield as well, ours is held by e&m estates or something like that.£6 a year. Lived there about 5 years. We are hoping to get an extension built so i contacted them to see if we could buy the freehold, as we would have to pay them for permission to build anyway. They came back and said they aren’t looking to sell at the moment! Haven’t? pushed it any further…. Let me know how you get on.

If you’ve been there more than two years, and it’s a house, they can’t refuse to sell, although you may need to go to court to assert your right to buy it.

http://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/houses-qualification-and-valuation/

Been attempting to do so for over a year, the owners agreed a price, everything took ages then I recently heard they are now undecided so it’s on hold again. So I may have ended up paying my solicitor for nothing whatsoever to change. Very frustrating!

Essentially in Sheffield you probably need to speak to Nether Edge law.

I was lucky in Sheffield and bought a freehold house.

Two friends have been through / are going through it in Sheffield…

A workmate is attempting to buy the freehold on a terraced house at the moment; he previously worked in housing and studied it at Uni. He has described the leasehold / landowner situation quite unfavourably. The lease on his has only 80 years remaining and he is instructing Nether Edge Law, he is the solicitor to use according to a long thread on the Sheffield Forum.

Another mate bought his up in Fulwood last year on his £300kish house if that matters, he had 700 years remaining and says that house value is only affected by the last 100years. He used Nether Edge Law, who he says were good and honest, but Coppen (big landowner in Sheffield) would not answer his legal letters. Only persistance won out. Coppen are pretty frustrating and leasehold law is useless. His cost in total about £2000. £1400 to Coppen and £600 to NE Law.

[b]Not[/b] the UK legal system. This is some strange thing you guys south of the border seem to have.

This was their response “Please be advised that our client Fairhold Holdings (2006) Houses Ltd is not currently looking to dispose of their Freehold interest at this moment in time. We are therefore unable to provide you with any prices for the same.

Kindly accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause.”

Details here

I own a leasehold house. How do I buy the freehold?

There is a formula for calculating the cost of the freehold. If you want to force it through, getting a solicitor will make it easier.

I’ve bought two in the past, one for a flat and one for a house.

Me mate just bought the freehold for his house for several grands in the North East …

Watching with interest as I live in a five year old house in Rotherham that’s also a ‘peppercorn rent’.
My current issue is with the company ‘maintaining’ the estate. Initially quoted £69 per year for a green area that never happened. New company wants £150 per year and does nothing!!

flaps – Member
New company wants £150 per year and does nothing!!

Was reading something about this recently where there are companies using lease to generate “rental income” or something like that …

Me mate noticed his lease was increasing drastically so he got in quick to buy it off.

Shuhockey – we have the same landlord! I got the exact same email back. I’m going to wait till the 2 years is up, then get in touch with Nether Edge Law – thanks rob1984p for the recommendation.

It’s not the ground rent that’s gone up for us, it’s the bulshit area management fee.