Purchase of freehold to your property.

[Carl1974]

Just throwing it out there to see if anyone has gone through this or knows anything about it.

We purchased our house over 20!years ago and had to pay£50 at the start of each year to the freehold company. However they have given us the opportunity to purchase the freehold for a price.

Once purchased and all the paperwork is signed over and sent to the land registry with the new owners details, do I need a solicitor to get involved or not?

Many thanks.

 

[IestynD]

Yes - You should get a solicitor to check what rights, if any, the current freeholder is retaining. There might be some covenants that are in place that you are not aware of, or access rights etc...

Good luck.

 

[DaveD]

Just throwing it out there to see if anyone has gone through this or knows anything about it.

We purchased our house over 20!years ago and had to pay£50 at the start of each year to the freehold company. However they have given us the opportunity to purchase the freehold for a price.

Once purchased and all the paperwork is signed over and sent to the land registry with the new owners details, do I need a solicitor to get involved or not?

Many thanks.

If the price is do-able and realistic buy it, there are many reasons for and I can only think of cost as against.
I would ask a conveyancing solicitor to deal with it. The potential consequences of any mistakes are too high to risk having a go yourself unless you have specialist knowledge, IMO.

 

[JOG]

A couple of hundred quid to a solicitor is money well spent.

Yes - You should get a solicitor to check what rights, if any, the current freeholder is retaining. There might be some covenants that are in place that you are not aware of, or access rights etc...

Good luck.

Absolutely! It’s the covenants, access, “clawback” and adoption issues that would concern me.

I suspect this is part of a development where the respective freeholds are being sold rather than an individual “one off”.

 

[TrevorK]

All the info is here.

Home - The Leasehold Advisory Service

Government funded, independent advice for residential leaseholders and park home residents

www.lease-advice.org

There is a separate section for leasehold houses.
If you have a mortgage, your lender will want to be involved, and will almost certainly want you to use a solicitor.
They may also charge a fee for Substitution of Security (replacing lease with freehold).
If you check on the land registry site, there should be 2 registrations, you can check the freehold title for a fee (but you solicitor will do this anyway).

Web Server's Default Page

onlinelandregistry.co.uk

Good luck.

 

[Carl1974]

I have spoken to a conveyancer who has said we can do it ourselves or have them act. As we have the deeds and Leasehold, I was told that all the land registry need is the TR1 and an AP1 which I fill out. There cost to ask and complete these on my behalf is £1200 +vat.

 

[JOG]

I have spoken to a conveyancer who has said we can do it ourselves or have them act. As we have the deeds and Leasehold, I was told that all the land registry need is the TR1 and an AP1 which I fill out. There cost to ask and complete these on my behalf is £1200 +vat.

That seems a bit steep to me - I'd ring around.

 

[The Bear78]

My wife is a Licenced Conveyancer and I just ran this past her.
For starters £1200+ VAT is too much. She does these for less and her firm certainly doesn't need to undercut for work...
As for needing a solicitor, not necessarily but as mentioned above you would need to be an expert in the field to ensure that any contract is both legally sound and in your best interest.
Further to that, while you don't need a solicitor for the actual work the Land Registry does require that a Solicitor witnesses/authenticates the ID of those involved so you can't get away from them completely!

 

[JOG]

My wife is a Licenced Conveyancer and I just ran this past her.
For starters £1200+ VAT is too much. She does these for less and her firm certainly doesn't need to undercut for work...
As for needing a solicitor, not necessarily but as mentioned above you would need to be an expert in the field to ensure that any contract is both legally sound and in your best interest.
Further to that, while you don't need a solicitor for the actual work the Land Registry does require that a Solicitor witnesses/authenticates the ID of those involved so you can't get away from them completely!

Great advice

 

[sparkywig]

I purchased the freehold to my Mum's house and submitted the forms TR1 and AP1 myself, it only cost the Land Registry fee. There was no requirement for ID authentication.

 

[Shaun Witts]

As well as all the good advice above, ensure you fully understand any restrictive covenants that are part of the Freehold you are buying. They shouldn’t be so onerous on older houses, but newer estates seem to retain surprising restrictions on even a Freeholder. On top of that, I’ve found that conveyancing solicitors are increasingly examining such covenants in transactions and insisting on relevant indemnity insurance where proof of relevant permission is not forthcoming.

 

[The Bear78]

I purchased the freehold to my Mum's house and submitted the forms TR1 and AP1 myself, it only cost the Land Registry fee. There was no requirement for ID authentication.

Interesting. I can only pass on the information given to me as I am no expert myself.
I'm not going to argue against what is or isn't possible but errors are far from rare. Some may be insured while others will have potentially ruinous consequences.

 

[TrevorK]

As well as all the good advice above, ensure you fully understand any restrictive covenants that are part of the Freehold you are buying. They shouldn’t be so onerous on older houses, but newer estates seem to retain surprising restrictions on even a Freeholder. On top of that, I’ve found that conveyancing solicitors are increasingly examining such covenants in transactions and insisting on relevant indemnity insurance where proof of relevant permission is not forthcoming.

Restrictive Covenants On Freehold Property Causing Hostility | Today's Conveyancer

Homeowners are angry and worried after finding out their new freehold properties they purchased is riddled with restrictive covenants and rent charges.

www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk

In fairness (!), the freehold restrictive covenants should be similar or less onerous than the lease.

 

[Shaun Witts]

Restrictive Covenants On Freehold Property Causing Hostility | Today's Conveyancer

Homeowners are angry and worried after finding out their new freehold properties they purchased is riddled with restrictive covenants and rent charges.

www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk

In fairness (!), the freehold restrictive covenants should be similar or less onerous than the lease.

For the house we looked at (5 years old) they were the same, just re-jigged a bit. The original Freeholder/builder still had the right to possess the property if the service charge was not paid, whereas as a leasehold this was if the rent was not paid. They had the right of entry to inspect for defects - and to insist that those defects were addressed to their satisfaction. The owner/Freeholder still had to request permission to erect a shed or similar, and to pay any costs to obtain that permission.
Certain restrictions, such as no caravans or commercial vehicles/trailers parked on the drive/road were expected. But on top of that they wanted to charge 30x the ground rent to purchase the Freehold!
This seems to me as if the developers are determined to squeeze every penny possible out of a property and to maintain an income for years ahead - as they started to do with Leasehold rent charges.

 

[Carl1974]

Having spoken to the Land registry again today. They have said we hold the lease hold for the property, I’ve found out that there are 965 years left on the property. In respect to ID this won’t be asked as the value to purchase the freehold is less than £6k.

 

[DaveD]

Having spoken to the Land registry again today. They have said we hold the lease hold for the property, I’ve found out that there are 965 years left on the property. In respect to ID this won’t be asked as the value to purchase the freehold is less than £6k.

I think it's a very wise purchase.