Should you buy the Freehold of your home?

If you own your home on a leasehold basis, it could revert to the freeholder in the future with you losing out financially. A lease means you only own the property for a certain number of years. As the lease gets shorter there are consequences. If you have not already bought the freehold of your property, there are some good reasons why you should.

The shorter the number of years left on your Lease the more difficult it can be to sell.

The same applies if you want to remortgage to get a better rate of interest or to raise money to improve the property or to seek an equity release. Lenders usually require at least 75 years remaining on the lease.

As the Lease of your property gets shorter, the cost of buying the freehold will increase.

Many people leave the purchase of a freehold until they are actually selling their property. This is unwise as it can take time to negotiate the best price especially if your freeholder knows you are trying to sell!

If you buy your freehold you no longer have to pay annual ground rent.

If you wish to build an extension or make a structural change to the property you no longer need a freeholder’s consent. You do still need to comply with planning requirements and building regulations.

If you want to pass your property on to your children they have certain limited rights to acquire the freehold whereas if you have owned your property for 2 years or more you have a legal right to buy at a fair price.

As you can see from the above there are lots of good reasons for buying your freehold and there is no good reason not to buy it.

How much will it cost?

One of the key questions is what is the correct value of your freehold? Your freeholder will offer to sell at a price; you will probably not know whether that is a fair price. We work with Tony Brunt, a local surveyor who specialises in freehold negotiations. He will negotiate on your behalf to ensure you pay a fair price.

We are happy to have an initial discussion without charge. We can then tell you the procedure and costs.

Please call Alison Bates or Tony Lynch at this office on 0121 270 2700 fill in the contact form below and they will be in touch to discuss with you.