New properties

Tangerinemoss

Tangerinemoss

Well-known member
It is a long time since I have bought a new property. We are currently exploring moving back down to the Lancashire and am somewhat puzzled that most new properties seem to now be Leasehold, in the past my experience was properties were freehold unless flats.

Any of the knowledgable Tangerines got any knowledge or expertise?
 
Tangerinemoss said:
It is a long time since I have bought a new property. We are currently exploring moving back down to the Lancashire and am somewhat puzzled that most new properties seem to now be Leasehold, in the past my experience was properties were freehold unless flats.

Any of the knowledgable Tangerines got any knowledge or expertise?
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I'm not a conveyancer however in the main it seems to be a ruse to me to keep charging
There is legislation pending to deal with this
www.knightfrank.co.uk

Leasehold law changes: how will the property market react?

The government has proposed the reform of leasehold laws, with new rules possibly arriving within two years. We analyse whether the prospect of the new rules will have an impact on the property market from today
www.knightfrank.co.uk www.knightfrank.co.uk
That said try to buy freehold if you can - at least for now
 
Leaseholds are not necessarily all bad. Vast parts of Lytham St Anne’s, parts of Cleveleys and Fleetwood are leasehold houses going back to the 1930s or even earlier. If they are on 999year leases with a rent of £5 a year then no issue. My house is leasehold. Ground rent is £15 per year with no provision for it to increase.

The problems are new builds such as Hawley Gardens which are on 155 year lease with a rent of £250 set to increase every few years plus a service charge of £150+ per year. I would never buy such a property nor advise anyone else to.
 
TangerineTed said:
You would negotiate a new lease with the landlord.

In reality you would do this way before it runs out as most mortgage lenders require at least 70 years left on the lease.
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Thanks Ted 👍
Does this leave the owner vulnerable to the terms of the lease being reviewed and the ground rent being substantially increased or is this regulated in some way ?
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, the selling on of leases and increasing was somewhere in the back of my mind.
 
The first house we bought (Chorlton in Manchester) was leasehold with over 900 years left on lease and a £10 per year ground rent. I was a little worried as I didn't understand leasehold ownership but solicitor basically said it was nothing to be concerned about. We actually never got billed, never paid anything and didn't ever find out who we were supposed to pay. No problems when we came to sell either.
 
See if you can buy out the leasehold before buying and include it in the overall price or ignore that house and look elsewhere. I know someone who got a leasehold new build in St Annes where it was sold on and the new company now wants more than double to have it bought out. Better to get rid of the problem asap.
 
TangerineTed said:
Leaseholds are not necessarily all bad. Vast parts of Lytham St Anne’s, parts of Cleveleys and Fleetwood are leasehold houses going back to the 1930s or even earlier. If they are on 999year leases with a rent of £5 a year then no issue. My house is leasehold. Ground rent is £15 per year with no provision for it to increase.

The problems are new builds such as Hawley Gardens which are on 155 year lease with a rent of £250 set to increase every few years plus a service charge of £150+ per year. I would never buy such a property nor advise anyone else to.
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Mine is a lease on hundreds of years with ground rent £3 pa and never increased.

Be sensible and caveat emptor as always.
 
Why buy a leasehold when there's plenty of freehold of on the market.
If you're buying new check the construction, some builders are throwing up timber frame houses as opposed to the traditional block and brick construction.
 
Can’t offer advice on free/lease hold but the only advice I would give is if you are looking at new builds weigh up houses for similar or cheaper that are old builds as I bet you’ll get better size/land for your money.

We bought a new build in 2019 and are going to sell it this year hopefully for an old build, absolutely no privacy just as many houses thrown together in a short space (and in short time) as possible so if you do go for a new build do your research on plots around you etc as we didn’t and have been stitched up to be honest for what we paid.
 
Never buy a leasehold.
If you are thinking of buying a new property check size of furniture. These new builds can be quite small.
Also get an independent surveyor to do a full survey. It will be expensive but worth it.
 
Large part of land in Lytham (and other areas of the Fylde) are Clifton family land. Leasehold and perfectly secure for the next 9 generations.
Banks generally wont entertain anything with less that 80Yrs remaining for lending.
Apartment leases are different again.
Dont be put off by it TangerineMoss - Assess on a case by case basis.
 
On new builds leasehold and apartment service charges which are often quite hefty look like a way that the developer can treat the project as a cash machine that will pay out regularly.
There is no good reason why a new build house on it's own plot should be a leasehold property.
 
Really depends on the leasehold contract. If you see a new property you really like, I wouldn't dismiss it just because its leasehold. My former house in south shore was a leasehold, but it was a fixed £50 a year and there where no onerous restrictive covenants, and I had no issues with it.
 
I suspect a lot of the posher type housing developments have different communal areas... So parks, water features, woodland, walks, garden areas etc...

All of these will need ongoing maintenance... In some instances there may also be security for the site etc.

So I suppose the fees would contribute to maintenance??
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I suspect a lot of the posher type housing developments have different communal areas... So parks, water features, woodland, walks, garden areas etc...

All of these will need ongoing maintenance... In some instances there may also be security for the site etc.

So I suppose the fees would contribute to maintenance??
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You may be right, although it's normally an overt contribution. We actually pay the Factor (a good Scottish term) biannually to maintain the grounds, buildings and roads around where we are.

Very different up here. Even our flat is freehold, there is just an agreement with the flat above if the roof needs maintenance. Personal opinion, for two stories only, a much simpler option than leasehold.
 
We have two rentals, one in London the other in New Brighton and both are leasehold. It's vital to watch out for the risk of the ever increasing service charge for no great level of service from the managing agent. These organisations can do a good job but research is needed to make sure there is a good level of scrutiny and performance. Plenty of money for old rope agents out there unfortunately letting down those who do a decent job.
 
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