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Frequently Asked Questions
- I own a leasehold house. How much will the freehold cost?
- I want to extend my lease. Are there any additional costs payable other than the price of the lease extension?
- How can I buy the freehold of my building?
- How long can I extend my lease for?
- Why do I have to extend my lease?
- I own a leasehold house. How do I buy the freehold?
- What will it cost to apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT)?
- What happens if we cannot agree on how much the lease extension should cost?
News story
Thinking of buying a leasehold flat?
There are more and more privately-owned leasehold flats - at least 1.6 million households in England and Wales on current estimates - and living in one will be easier if you understand the rights and responsibilities that go with this unique form of tenure.
An understanding of the protection that the law affords to leaseholders if things do go awry will give you peace of mind and enable you to nip any problems in the bud and the good news is that the high quality advice you need to understand your rights and to set the scene for you is freely available from the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) at www.lease-advice.org.
“Relatively few people really understand leasehold tenure,” says Anthony Essien of the government’s Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE). “So we encourage anyone thinking of buying a leasehold flat to take a look at our website at www.lease-advice.org to make sure they understand at least the basics of leasehold tenure before they sign anything. Above all, be sure to read the lease and to ask your conveyancing solicitor to explain anything you are not sure about.”
Most blocks are run with few problems but when things do go wrong help is at hand. Mr Essien manages a team solicitors and non-practising barristers employed solely to provide free legal advice to leaseholders, landlords, lawyers and managing agents by phone or, by appointment, in person. LEASE also provides a no-nonsense website with useful search functions fast-tracking users to answers to the most frequently asked questions, and all of its detailed and definitive publications are available to view and download.
The most common questions LEASE deals with are about service charges, lease extensions, issues with managing agents and queries about leaseholder’s rights in law to manage the building themselves should they wish or even to buy the freehold between them.
Find LEASE (The Leasehold Advisory Service) at www.lease-advice.org or call them on 020 7354 5380
(News story added: 21 September 2009)