Buying a house - Leasehold & Freehold

[SuperZ]

Leaseholds are much better than they used to be, and fair.
It`s been mentioned in this thread that a leaseholder doesn`t have to renew it but I don`t thihnk this is the case anymore, by law they have to extend the lease and it has to be at a fair price. I think but don`t quote me, a leaseholder has to extend the lease at least once or twice, or it may even be a case that they have to continue renewing leases.

On flats they seem to vary bewtween 99 years and 999 and even the shorter ones tend to be renewed to 125 years once they hit around 60 years or less I think.

If the leaseholder cannot be found, the state will grant a new lease on behalf of the leaseholder.

A leaseholder these days cannot decide to not renew a lease if for example they have plans to knock the building down and build a bigger one.

[TheFaQQer]

There is some really good information about leaseholds here.

We used them when we went to LVT.

[PerlOfWisdom]

I looked on wikipedia but was not left feeling much clearer on what exactly a leasehold entails. I thought most UK houses were freeholds i.e. you own the property outright when you buy it... how is a leasehold different, and does it make a big difference in terms of 'real life'?

Thanks.

New houses are leashold where there are shared sevices (water supply, drains, etc) running under the house or garden. Housebuilders do this to save on the cost of running these via the public roads/pavements.

[Spacecadet]

I'm a lease holder.
I'm also in the curious position that when I bought the house, I also bought the lease, effectively make me my own landlord

I think I'll have to investigate bring the freehold/leasehold deeds into alignment before we sell.

Another thing about leaseholds (for landed properties)... quite often the lease holder (usually the council) will be willing to sell the leasehold to the home owner for a nominal fee to cover selling costs.

[d000hg]

New houses are leashold where there are shared sevices (water supply, drains, etc) running under the house or garden. Housebuilders do this to save on the cost of running these via the public roads/pavements.

Don't virtually all houses have pipes and drains running through the gardens though? Do you mean that most new builds are leaseholds these days?

[Fishface]

I have a leashold flat - my understanding is that I own the space within the wall for a specified time - the lease.

The lease specifies the rights an responsibilities of both parties - basically anything that can be moved freely is my business anything else is the landlord's responsibility executed by the appointed managing agent. The pipes running through are not my business but if they bust they have the right to break up my floors to get to them and put it back as it was.

I extended my lease last year from 72 years by 100 years - cost £21k legal costs of both parties included. It was done 'by the act' and therefore 20% cheaper than 'with the act' - the legal route.

It gets calculated by the 'marriage value' which gets the numbers for the extention valuation.

I had no choice - becomes unsaleable with a low lease length.

If you have 16+ flats in the block then a manangemt company is essential.

We looked into buying the 'commonhold' but it was very complicated, expensive and would be a lot of involvement in the management.

The benefit to me is that I come and go as I please no hassle sorting leaks, gardens, painting, roofs etc, etc. and it still a saleable asset.

[TheFaQQer]

I had no choice - becomes unsaleable with a low lease length.

One of the reasons for moving when I did was that the lease was coming down to 60 years or so, the agent was a ****, and there was no chance of buying the lease. Landlord was not interested in extending the lease, but offered to sell the leasehold for the six flats and shops for £450k.