leasehold

[henrymullen]

I am buying my home with a leasehold but would it be beneficial to buy the freehold.

[Carby]

If you buy a freehold property then the property will be yours. If it's leasehold then the property belongs to someone else.

[dasherman]

Buy it asap,the longer you leave it the more it will cost and might make your house unsaleable.

[EverClean]

It is NOT usually beneficial to purchase the frrehold of your leasehold building. The savings are minimal and the effort and cost can be horrendous. If it is a leasehold property then the freeholder arranges things such as collection of ground rent, buildings insurance, etc. If the ground rent you are being asked to pay is extraordinary then it may be worthwhile to buy the freehold.

However if there was a great profit to be had for little work in owning the freehold then it wouldn't be for sale!

If you are obtaining a mortgage for this through a mortgage adviser then they will be able to assist you in the best course of action.

[dasherman]

I could be wrong but I thought the owner of the freehold had a legal obligation to sell it and if you come to sell the house in the future with a lease of less than 60 years to run then many mortgage companies won't lend the money to your propective buyers.

So unless the lease has over 100 years to run then buy the freehold !

[EverClean]

You have an automatic right to extend the lease so all rules regarding short leases are pretty much defunct now. The hassle involved in being the freeholder isn't usually worth the bother.

If you can get the freehold cheaply then consider it. If it is the freehold for more than one property (ie the lease for a building that has been converted into two flats) then walk away.