Belt Auction

I have recently received a letter from my local council stating that they are selling the leasehold ?

on my property. They have offered to sell it to me for £750 inc legal expenses otherwise it will go to auction in Oct this year. I want to way up the pro and cons of buying and would like advice as it currently only costs me £4.75 per year for the ground rent. I am not sure of my long term plans to stay in my home, I may move in the future. Also if a private landlord purchased the lease is there a law stating that they have to stay within a specific amount or could it be a free for all where they could charge large fees. £750 is a lot of money for me personally to pay at once and the council want cash upfront no installments. what would your advice be anyone with a legal mind or working in the government sector. Good advice old .holl the council are selling the freehold. I may look into buying the freehold after all even though it will put a large dent into my savings but will be worth it I suppose. Thanks

Public Comments

1. Buy it or regret for evermore.
2. I'm no legal mind but it is obvious that your property will be more saleable/valuable in the future as a freehold so owning that will be a good long term investment. I am sure another buyer of your freehold would be looking for a greater return than £4.75 per annum even if they got it for a quarter of your offer at auction.
3. First, a couple of assumptions - I am assuming that you are in the UK, that your property is currently held by you on a long lease (e.g. something like 900 years) and that the £4.75 is the only payment you make under the lease to the Council. If this is so, you need to check just what the Council is selling. This is likely to be the freehold (which runs forever, rather than expiring at the end of the lease). As a freeholder, you are not only freed from ground rent, but also freed from the terms of the lease, including such things as seeking permission to carry out certain works at the property (for which the lease may contain a provision that a fee can be demanded - you need to check this). So what you are buying would really be an improved title and freedom from some worry. If the Council's interest is sold at auction, it will be sold at it's market value - probably as a package with others in the street. Whoever buys it will then replace the Council, which is where you need to be careful. There are firms around who specifically buy up interests such as this and then try to bully people such as you into paying large sums that they are not entitled to request. Be careful if that happens and seek some advice from a CAB or similar. A Council seeking cash up front in this situation is not unusual, but the amount sought seems somewhat on the high side to me - unless we are talking of London rates. It really depends on how much your peace of mind is worth to you and you should also consider that buying what is on offer may marginally increase the value of your property if you come to sell. One last tip. If you have a mortgage, check to see if its terms make any demands on you in these circumstances. And good luck with it.