Purchasing a Freehold Title

[fender]

I am selling a house which is a leasehold property.

Do I need to see deeds of the house (which are with the bank|) to find out how many years are remaining on the leasehold?

I know there are forms on the land registry site but do I literally track down the landlord who owns the land and call to their door and ask them to agree a price and sign the forms?

Has anybody been involved in purchasing their ground rent?

 

[mf1]

Why do you need to buy out the freehold? If its a substantial term and no rent has ever been demanded, there is no issue.

If its less than 70 years ( do you know this?) you probably need to take legal advice on a time frame etc.,etc to get it sorted before putting the property on the market.

mf

 

[fender]

Hi mf1,

I'm not sure how much time is left on the lease which is why I was wondering where I find this out?

There is a potential buyer concerned about this.
Thanks

 

[j26]

If it's Land Registry property (you have a folio number), the front page will tell you the details of the lease. If not, you will have to contact your solicitor.

If you want to purchase the Ground Rents, you can track down the landlord, but if you can't there is an arbitration procedure in Ground Rents which will set a price which is paid into the Land Registry. If the landlord ever does turn up s/he gets the money you paid in.

It,s relatively straightforward, and if you have a vesting certificate you can then sell both the freehold and leasehold interests to the purchaser.