We're Going To Have To Pull Out Of Purchase : (

[Smowball]

We've discovered the sellers were lying about the length of the leasehold on the holiday home( quite how they thought they would get away with it I don't know!) but the searches/ Lamd Registry has discovered it's only 48 years and no way it can be extended as they only do 55 year leases in that area . It's just not long enough and will be hard to sell in a couple of years when it's even less : (

[bednobs]

how long did they say?

[Garaman]

If they only do 55 year leases, 48 seems quite good.

[mikey4444]

Leaseholds should be outlawed...period.

[Smowball]

You're not going to believe it - I've just spoken to conveyancer and the sellers only just registered on Land Registry last week!! They've had it since 2010!

[EcclesCake]

For what reason Mikey?

[woofgang]

well better you should know now....although as you say, how they thought they would get away with it.....

[wolf63]

What is the Leasehold - what does it do?

[Jackdaw33]

If I were offered a 48 year lease I would be 116 by the time it expired so I don't think I would be too preoccupied about the matter.

[Mamyalynne]

https://www.gov.uk/leasehold-property/overview

[Barmaid]

Have you lost money? You may have a misrep claim.

[Old_Geezer]

Outlawed probably because there seems no excuse to sell a property but not the land with it as a package as it causes problems. There's the issue of trying to sell it later when you have owned the property a a while and the lease is now shorter, and the problem of the land owner make things ridiculously difficult for you if they wish at the end of the lease, basically holding you to ransom, as you can hardly transport your property elsewhere. A building should automatically come with the land as freehold, there's no justification for keeping what clearly should be part of a package.

[wolf63]

Thanks for the link mamy, it seems that up here in Scotland it doesn't work the same way. It just sounds like a way of printing money.

[Mamyalynne]

Aye, the 'Landed Gentry' eh?

[EDDIE51]

Holiday homes are VERY rarely freehold , they are normally 'mobile or temporary' and permanent residence is not allowed.

[Smowball]

Yes our conveyancer said the whole thing was very iffy from the beginning. They kept delaying handing over th land registry paperwork to clarify lease - because they didn't have it! And therefore they illegally put it up for sale with the auction house. She says auction house has to refund our deposit paid so far as it wasn't a legal sale plus we haven't exchanged. Just too many things they were trying to hide.

[Smowball]

Oh and they didn't mention till after deposit paid that they had agreed to let a mate stay in it for three months whilst his house was being done up or something and they'd drawn up an illegal tenancy contract for him so we wouldn't have been able to let it for those months

[hc4361]

You're well shot of it. Disappointing for you, though

[Smowball]

Yes we're disappointed but luckily we found out this all now. Never mind.....

[hc4361]

Uncalled for, Jackdaw