Lease/Freehold advice – leasehold not up for renewal!

Hi all.

My dad lives in a leasehold property and has been informed (only verbally at this stage) that he will not be entitled to renew his lease, but the freehold will be available to purchase for a (frankly extortionate) sum – the figure they have indicated is equivalent to more than 300 years ground rent!

I believe the lease expired a while ago, so effectively there is no lease left to run on the house.

I am having a quick look on the leasehold advisory service website, but it’s all quite complicated.

I’ve told him to sit tight and wait for something to arrive in writing, then he will need to consult a solicitor.

Has anyone got any advice in the meantime? Any rough rules of thumb for calculating the price of a freehold?

TBH if he’s let the lease expire then whatever he does is going to be heinously expensive.
At least he’s being given the chance to buy the freehold rather than being turfed out.

So if the lease has expired does he essentially not have any rights?

Quite possibly. The value of the freehold is whatever the owner wants it to be.

So if he can’t afford to buy the freehold, and they won’t renew the lease, is he homeless?

We extended our lease 5 years ago and it was about £12000.

“I’ve told him to sit tight and wait for something to arrive in writing, then he will need to consult a solicitor.”

That sounds like good advice, it appears you must act quickly when they send something or your stuffed. I would speak to LAS, they are quite helpful and will give you an idea of what can happen.