Buying a home and don't know how anything works
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kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
I don't know about the finding alternative accommodation thing - I had thought that was only a thing when a property was being renovated - my understanding was that simply the tenancy continued in place as if nothing had changed.
Personally I wouldn't touch a place like that with a 50ft bargepole - it's got 'shit-covered goat rodeo' all over it.
Personally I wouldn't touch a place like that with a 50ft bargepole - it's got 'shit-covered goat rodeo' all over it.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Ah, thanks for this, the price was comparatively low for the area and size of property. I think she's annoyed because there was nothing about sitting tenants in the listing.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
The house my son and his girlfriend bought was rented, the existing tenants were buying a house (a different one) and the landlord decided that this was his moment to sell up. My son never met the actual landlord face to face (though he spoke to him on the phone), the tenants showed him round. Because the house they were buying was a new build there were delays and they ended up stopping in their current house for an extra six weeks. The landlord and my son agreed to delay completion until the tenants new house was finished and it wasn't a problem since Son and Pollyanna just ended up staying a bit longer with us. Son Q did ask the solicitor what would happen if the tenants didn't move after contracts were exchanged. The solicitor told them he would become their landlord and would have had to evict them with a S21 followed by a court order if they didn't go. He did ask if he would have to help them find somewhere to live and the answer was no, that's an urban myth. Son Q wasn't that keen on the idea of being an accidental landlord and having to evict someone. It worked out fine but yet one more stressful thing in a stressful process. He got a lot of free furniture out of it since the landlord didn't want to organise a skip and left it in the house. They kept some but most of it went to Cancer Research.
5t3IIa
Registered User
Any advice/comments on a terraced house which is leasehold? Lease is 999 years from 1924 and apparently ground rent (?) is £2/6 shillings 
Vendor said they made a £100 payment when they bought it in 2012, which obvs covered a good few years.
Anything to be concerned about? Need to check it doesn't increase...I'd do that through the solicitor, right?
Thanks!
Vendor said they made a £100 payment when they bought it in 2012, which obvs covered a good few years. Anything to be concerned about? Need to check it doesn't increase...I'd do that through the solicitor, right?
Thanks!
Who owns the lease? Can you buy it?Any advice/comments on a terraced house which is leasehold? Lease is 999 years from 1924 and apparently ground rent (?) is £2/6 shillings
Anything to be concerned about? Need to check it doesn't increase...I'd do that through the solicitor, right?
Thanks!
Should be in the lease which the vendor should have a copy of and should supply to your solicitor if you're buying the place.I’ll have to ask the…solicitor? Do I ask the solicitor?
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Being in a similar situation, if you plan to do any works to improve the property you may have to pay for a ‘licence to develop’ from the freeholder, in our case this amounted to four grand plus solicitor’s fees for both parties which came to another £2400 roughly. Also would need to notify them as an interested party under the party wall act which will add 500-600 on top of whatever other party wall fees you are paying.Any advice/comments on a terraced house which is leasehold? Lease is 999 years from 1924 and apparently ground rent (?) is £2/6 shillings
Anything to be concerned about? Need to check it doesn't increase...I'd do that through the solicitor, right?
Thanks!
If you can buy them out it’s worth doing and will also increase the value of your property as it becomes more attractive to future buyers.
In flats, it's often unavoidable. (Mine is with a share of freehold but there were a lot fewer flats with that that than straight leasehold) But for a house, yes, bit weird.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
Any advice/comments on a terraced house which is leasehold? Lease is 999 years from 1924 and apparently ground rent (?) is £2/6 shillings
Anything to be concerned about? Need to check it doesn't increase...I'd do that through the solicitor, right?
Thanks!
You could try asking the seller, but would need to get stuff confirmed through solicitor as part of the conveyancing process (which will probably cost more because it's more complicated.)
Houses were often leasehold at one point in time, but it can suit all concerned for 'home owner' to buy out the lease. Mum-tat's house (fairly bog standard 1930s semi in SE London) was leasehold when parents bought it in 1969, but they bought the freehold either at the time or fairly early on (so the law may have changed since then.)
Leasehold Advisory Service has more on the joys of leasehold, including a page on leasehold houses and options for buying the freehold.
Broadly, things to look out for are -
What's the inflation clause on the ground rent? (if it's still 2 and 6 a year that suggests there isn't one)
What service charges (if any) are there, and what does the freeholder do in return for them? What inflation clauses are there in the service charge?
Are there bits that repair / maintenance is their responsibility, and do they do it? (some things will be found by the survey, but a look at the house and neighbouring houses can sometimes show obvious things.)
I live in a leasehold flat (which is slightly different) and things like the roof and outside walls are freeholder's responsibility, what's inside is mine. that may be different with a house as the roof (for example) isn't over other flats as well.
(Some developers have re-discovered leasehold in recent years and the ground rent/ service charges have extortionate inflation clauses)
What restrictions does the lease have in terms of what you can / can't do? (may be something historic like you're not allowed to take in laundry as a home business or keep pigs in the back yard, which may or may not be an issue for you...)
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
Building - the things that a homebuyers survey will tell you are nothing you can't see for yourself (so, if an internal door is fully open, they won't close it to look behind the door for signs of damp on the wall...), while a building survey may pick up things that will cost you thousands.
Building survey (£800?) will tell you if you need a rewire - which is £5-10k, and a shitload of hassle.
Just update FWIW.
Still waiting for my mortgage to be approved. Just annoying paperwork stuff.
Without going into too much detail, as I don't want to identify the place, re tenants. The place I'm trying to buy does actually have vender's relative living there. Have been assured they're moving out. No tenancy agreement. My solicitor said they can get them to sign something to say they will be moving out and have no claims on the property. As far as one can judge, this seems alright. The vender seems straight up and it would obviously be a bit weird for them to try and stay. Apparently have something lined up elsewhere.
I nearly looked at another place, which had tenants who'd just signed another 6 month lease. Probably students. I've actually been in that same flat when a mate lived there many years ago. It was also above retail and I didn't want the hassle of being a landlord, even if only for 6 months.
Anyway, have arranged another visit on #1 and house buyer survey has been done, just waiting for report. I'm sure the mortgage thing will be straightened out. I'd be paying back less PCM than I do in rent. And my rent is pretty affordable as social housing.
Still waiting for my mortgage to be approved. Just annoying paperwork stuff.
Without going into too much detail, as I don't want to identify the place, re tenants. The place I'm trying to buy does actually have vender's relative living there. Have been assured they're moving out. No tenancy agreement. My solicitor said they can get them to sign something to say they will be moving out and have no claims on the property. As far as one can judge, this seems alright. The vender seems straight up and it would obviously be a bit weird for them to try and stay. Apparently have something lined up elsewhere.
I nearly looked at another place, which had tenants who'd just signed another 6 month lease. Probably students. I've actually been in that same flat when a mate lived there many years ago. It was also above retail and I didn't want the hassle of being a landlord, even if only for 6 months.
Anyway, have arranged another visit on #1 and house buyer survey has been done, just waiting for report. I'm sure the mortgage thing will be straightened out. I'd be paying back less PCM than I do in rent. And my rent is pretty affordable as social housing.
Yeah I think I'd have gone for the Building Survey if I was buying a house. Certainly an older house.
As mine's a 15 year old flat, just gone for the house buyers.
Boudicca
Seaside Queen
Hum, not sure they will specifically check this. I think they usually just say ' get an electrician to check the electrics'.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
If there is no tenancy agreement then they're squatters not tenants surely (albeit squatters that the owner is happy to have living there)? There's always a risk when buying a house that has got someone other than the owner living in it.
When my daughter and her boyfriend bought a house in 2017, the mortgage payments on a semi with 3 double bedrooms ended up costing them £30 more a month than the rent on the 1 bedroom flat they moved out of.
I suspect a lot of renters could actually afford to buy if they could get the deposit together.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
There is a concept of 'licence to occupy' which is less than a full tenancy, and if they are there with the knowledge / permission of the (current) owner then don't think they are squatters. don't know enough about it to know what rights they have got and / or how complicated it could get if they are awkward about going, though.
Well I don't think anyone would call this a squatting situation. More like the not unusual thing of letting a mate or this case close relative, stay in your property, presumably paying rent, but without setting up a tenancy agreement as you're trying to sell the place. Which sounds reasonable to me but yeah, with potential to go awkward but I have no reason to think it will...
And yeah, definitely. I only have the deposit due to an inheritance. Buying anywhere was not a realistic prospect.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
From my limited understanding of a Licence to Occupy, they basically have very rights if any. As with everything, the licence would need to be reviewed but suspect there is a clear termination clause, which may allude to eviction.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Have only encountered licence to occupy for commercial properties such as shared offices like Regus etc.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Not quite true. When we were looking for our current place we had a lucky escape with a HB, told us about a problem with rising damp, but the house looked lovely inside.
This time they've picked up that they don't have the relevant paperwork for removing the internal walls, so we've been able to request a full structural survey (at their expense). So that £500ish has been well worth it both times.
5t3IIa
Registered User
This is a homebuyers, yes? We are trying to decide which type to get and wading through all this again after reading it ALL when we were looking in November too is a pita
bellaozzydog
rolling turds in glitter
My current gaff I had three separate buildings surveys (long story)
None of them pointed out the fucked chimneys, leaky roof, rotten Victorian lath and plaster walls
Winners, if i had my time again I’d re-spawn
As a building surveyor Loads of money for doing fuck all
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
This is a homebuyers, yes? We are trying to decide which type to get and wading through all this again after reading it ALL when we were looking in November too is a pita
Yes, it was the homebuyers we've used time. Almost skipped it this time as the place looked so good. Thank god we didn't.
steveseagull
Well-Known Member
Been to see a ground floor garden flat today in a nice area just outside of London. It is a bit smaller than the photos looked on the website as I think they were taken with a wide angle lenses but... with a bit of creative thinking about where to put stuff, I think i can make it work.
I like it... and I am having the weekend to think about it but will likely put an offer in on Monday.
So how do I do that?
I first spotted it late summer but it is back on the market again as the women who was buying it had the mortgage fall through. The woman who currently owns it is moving to another property which is already bought. So as a cash buyer I can get this through, hopefully in under three months.
The cost is 190k. Do I go in hard at £180k and then negotiate? I don't want to pay more that £185k really (but can if I have to)
I like it... and I am having the weekend to think about it but will likely put an offer in on Monday.
So how do I do that?
I first spotted it late summer but it is back on the market again as the women who was buying it had the mortgage fall through. The woman who currently owns it is moving to another property which is already bought. So as a cash buyer I can get this through, hopefully in under three months.
The cost is 190k. Do I go in hard at £180k and then negotiate? I don't want to pay more that £185k really (but can if I have to)
