mortgage query

[hash tag]

Goodness sheothebudworths that was some outpouring. Sorry you lost the original property.
The ex lha place, tell me to take a Runner or ignore me....how high, does it have a lift, what type of construction is it and of course, what is the outstanding term of the lease.
sorry, don't forget, does it have any form of cladding on it, which is currently high on everyone's agenda.
best. x

 

[hash tag]

well sheothebudworths hows it all going?

 

[Teaboy]

On the subject of leaseholds I don't think they are necessarily a bad thing, in fact in a block of flats its highly likely to be the case.

In general I would have thought ex-local authority are amongst the best because they usually have very long leases (999 years was common place) so you never have to worry about renewing. Also you know who the freeholder is which can sometimes be a confusing problem and hopefully the council will be a bit more reasonable with charges than some private spivs.

 

[A380]

.... (999 years was common place) so you never have to worry about renewing...

Speak for yourself...

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

On the subject of leaseholds I don't think they are necessarily a bad thing, in fact in a block of flats its highly likely to be the case.

In general I would have thought ex-local authority are amongst the best because they usually have very long leases (999 years was common place) so you never have to worry about renewing. Also you know who the freeholder is which can sometimes be a confusing problem and hopefully the council will be a bit more reasonable with charges than some private spivs.

The leases on our ex-LA estate are only 125 years.

I wouldn't bet on a council or stock-transfer freeholder being more reasonable. I suspect there might be budget padding/backhanders. And the quality of workmanship for any repairs/major works is often shoddy.

 

[Leafster]

The leases on our ex-LA estate are only 125 years.

I wouldn't bet on a council or stock-transfer freeholder being more reasonable. I suspect there might be budget padding/backhanders. And the quality of workmanship for any repairs/major works is often shoddy.

My experience of ex-LA properties owned by my clients is that the basic service charges or management fees are set lower but one-off costs for major repairs are significantly higher. Administration by the LA (as landlord) is poorer, probably down to fewer resources being available. As I think I mentioned before, IMO, the best leasehold properties to buy are those where the management company is run by the leasees with the leasees owing a share of the freehold.

 

[hash tag]

The leasees can of course get into considerable arguments even over the most minor of issues. No system is ever going to be perfect and plain sailing.

 

[Leafster]

The leasees can of course get into considerable arguments even over the most minor of issues. No system is ever going to be perfect and plain sailing.

That's very true. I lived in a flat with the set up a mentioned for over twenty years and there were arguments but most of them were over minor things - do we replace the rose beds, what colour shall we paint the garage doors but occasionally they were more serious. We had to replace the guttering but I was pushing for what others considered to be oversized, I lost as there was a roofer and a surveyor in the meeting who disagreed with me even though the old guttering was oversized. The gutters were replaced with standard spec for the building. After that, whenever there was a downpour, the water flowed over the guttering and down the sides of the buildings in places causing damp issues.

The guttering had to be upgraded on parts of the buildings to solve the problem.

 

[Epona]

On the subject of leaseholds I don't think they are necessarily a bad thing, in fact in a block of flats its highly likely to be the case.

In general I would have thought ex-local authority are amongst the best because they usually have very long leases (999 years was common place) so you never have to worry about renewing. Also you know who the freeholder is which can sometimes be a confusing problem and hopefully the council will be a bit more reasonable with charges than some private spivs.

The problem with being a council leaseholder is that leases are often as clear as mud, and there are occasional bills that aren't subject to negotiation, such as "we did some stuff to the roof, you owe us £18,000, pay us within 2 years or be evicted" - fairly brutal, and I cannot in all honesty recommend it.

 

[hash tag]

Or even pay us thousands to remove the unsafe cladding that you didn't want or ask for

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

The problem with being a council leaseholder is that leases are often as clear as mud, and there are occasional bills that aren't subject to negotiation, such as "we did some stuff to the roof, you owe us £18,000, pay us within 2 years or be evicted" - fairly brutal, and I cannot in all honesty recommend it.

It's possible to challenge them. Try seeking advice from the Leasehold Advisory Service.

On our estate, when they were planning to do the major works to bring the flats up to the Decent Homes Standard, a couple of the leaseholders were particularly on the ball and realised that the housing hadn't served the proper legal notices and hadn't consulted properly, so our contribution was legally capped at £250 I think it was, when technically we should have paid thousands for windows, roof replacement on flat roof blocks, redecorating stairwells, (and the tenants got new kitchens, new bathrooms).

It's worth researching your rights or finding out if any of your neighbours are savvy about that kind of thing.

It's amazing what incompetence the owners can get away with if leaseholders aren't on the ball.

 

[smmudge]

To give another point of view our lease was 999 years when new (now around 980 years I think, who knows? Who cares?). We have no service charges and peppercorn ground rent of £1 a year that they don't collect. Under the terms of the lease we're responsible for buildings insurance and the walls around our property. We're jointly responsible with our upstairs neighbours the floor/ceiling between us and the roof. Our freeholder is Wimpey, I'm guessing the same one as of WimpeyTaylor, so the company that built the building?

I could foresee problems with this arrangement but tbh no more nor less than any other leasehold.

All the ex council properties round here had 125 year leases when new, they've got around 96 / 97 left I think. Their service charges weren't bad but you could get huge bills out the blue.

A lot of privately owned freeholders had extortionate service charges when we were looking.