What is flat leasing?

What is flat leasing?

Leasehold ownership of a flat is simply a long tenancy, the right to occupation and use of the flat for a long period – the ‘term’ of the lease. This will usually be for 99 or 125 years and the flat can be bought and sold during that term. The term is fixed at the beginning and so decreases in length year by year.

Is buying a leasehold flat a good idea?

If you’ve fallen in love with a property that happens to be leasehold, there’s no reason you shouldn’t go ahead and purchase it. Leases themselves aren’t an issue – it’s bad leases that are the issue. Terms in your lease mean if you’re having any issues, for example with noisy neighbours, this can be dealt with.

Who owns the lease on a flat?

Leasehold/Leaseholder Leasehold is a form of long-term tenancy where the purchaser buys the right to live in the property for a stated time. This is usually 99 or 125 years. The person who owns the lease on the property is called the leaseholder.

Can I rent a leased flat?

Even if you own the leasehold property outright, the lease may still prohibit you from subletting so you will still need permission from the freeholder. If you do have permission from the freeholder to sublet you will only need to ensure you have the correct insurance in place before listing your property online.

Is 125 year lease long enough?

The majority of residential leases used to be for a term of 99 years, but more recently leases on modern purpose-built flats have been for 125 years or longer. Most leases on ex-local authority flats are also for 125 years. The value of a leasehold flat diminishes as the lease gets shorter.

Can I sell my leasehold flat?

When you sell a leasehold property, the lease is transferred to the new leaseholder. So, they will have to adhere to everything that was agreed to in the original contract, including paying the ground rent and service charge. The general process for selling a leasehold property is similar to freehold.

Is a 999 year lease as good as freehold?

Put simply, acquiring a 999 year lease enables a flat owner to have a title that is ‘as good as freehold’ and therefore more marketable than for example a 85 year lease, whilst retaining the existing freehold/leasehold structure.

What happens after leasehold expires?

When the leasehold on a property expires, the property reverts back to being a freehold property where ownership of both building and land belong to the freeholder. Even if you have paid your mortgage off and own the property outright, when that leasehold expires you’ll have no legal rights to the property.

What happens after leasehold ends?

When the leasehold expires, the property reverts to a freehold property, where it is under the ownership of the freeholder in addition to you no longer having the right to stay there.

Why is a 99 year lease not 100?

The development authority of a particular area provides land development rights to developers and sells properties for a lease of 99 years. This means that anyone who purchases a residential or commercial property will own it only for a period of 99 years, after which the ownership is given back to the landowner.

Why you should not buy a flat?

The builder is required to pay you a monthly penalty in case you do not receive the flat’s possession within the grace period. Additional expenses such as GST, stamp duty, home loan processing fee, registration charges and all other charges should also be kept in mind.

How long does a leasehold last?

Leasehold means that you just have a lease from the freeholder (sometimes called the landlord) to use the home for a number of years. The leases are usually long term – often 90 years or 120 years and as high as 999 years – but can be short, such as 40 years.

Can I change the kitchen in my leasehold flat?

As a leaseholder there may be restrictions on how and what you can change or alter your leasehold property. If you wish to make significant internal changes to the property, add an extension, or change its use (from residential to commercial), you will have to apply to the freeholder (or landlord) for permission.

Can I renew my leasehold?

All leaseholders who can extend their lease will have the right to do so by 990 years. Currently, leaseholders of houses can only extend their lease once, by a 50-year period, while leaseholders of flats can extend leases as often as they wish for a 90-year period.

How does leasehold work?

You only own a leasehold property for a fixed period of time. You’ll have a legal agreement with the landlord (sometimes known as the ‘freeholder’) called a ‘lease’. This tells you how many years you’ll own the property. Ownership of the property returns to the landlord when the lease comes to an end.

Can leasehold become freehold?

The law. The Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (the 1967 act) gives leasehold tenants of houses the right to buy the freehold. The right to buy the freehold (and any intermediate leasehold interest, for example the head lease) without the landlord’s agreement is called ‘enfranchisement’.

Is 99 year lease OK?

Often you’ll think you have 99 years left to run on your lease and nothing to worry about, however the truth is as of 2019, this lease has reduced by 49 years (from 1970 to 2019) meaning it only has 50 years left to run before the lease expires and you have no property to live in.

Is a 90 year lease a problem?

As a general rule of thumb, if the lease is less than 90 years you should almost certainly try to extend it because: Properties with shorter leases are less valuable than ones with long leases (this is particularly true if leases are below 80 years)