Q:Hello All

I am purchasing a share of freehold (the buyer been the freeholder) and was wondierng how much it would cost to extend the lease on the property althouht it is freehold. I think i am going to have to ask the person i am buying the flat off to extend the lease as it has only 70 years remaining on it. WOuld it mean the seller just asking her solicitor to extend the lease as she is the freeholder of the whole block of flats?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Yasmin

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A:It's fair to say that she doesn't understand then! I can understand what she is thinking but it obviously wasn't been fully explained to her by her solicitor when she bought the freehold.

It is very simple for your solicitor to request from her solicitor that the lease is extended and her solicitor can explain it to her properly. She will have to pay her solicitor extra legal fees to extend the lease but the extension itself will be free.

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A:Hi Dozzergirl

Yes I know you have told me atlesat 3 or 4 times now . What i am trying to work out is how much it will cost her ot extend it. But it seems like it will not cost anything at all given she is the freeholder! The person i am buying the flat form is under the impression that siince she is the freeholder then the lease now does not matter as it was cheaper for her to buy the freehold than the extend her lease if that makes sense.

I will speak to my solicitors tommorow.

Thanks for your help

Yasmin

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A:So i assume that if at the moment as it stands the person i am buying the flat off owns the whole freehold then it would be better for me to ask her ot extend the lease as at present she is the freeholder ofthe building.

I've told you at least once that this is what you need to do :confused:

You are complicating the issue by wanting to DIY. If she extends the lease then there is very little for you to be concerned about, in fact nothing where cost is concerned.

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A:Hi
No actually it is the first option which i will be going into when i have bought the flat. My seller actually owns the freehold and by law now has to offer it to the flat upstairs if this makes sense. I did not know it was free to extend the lease. So i assume that if at the moment as it stands the person i am buying the flat off owns the whole freehold then it would be better for me to ask her ot extend the lease as at present she is the freeholder ofthe building.

THanks in advance for your response.

Yasmin

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A:"Share of freehold" usually means that each owner of a leasehold flat in the building also owns a share of the freehold. In such circs extension of the lease is usually free, as the joint freeholders just award extensions to each other.

However you seem to be suggesting that this is a more traditional arrangement where there is a freeholder who owns the building, and a number of flat owners who separately own the leases on the flats.In this case, the leaseholder would need to pay the freeholder for a lease extension.

A leaseholder is entitled to a lease extension after owning the flat for 2 years, but the price is a matter of negotiation and depends on the lease length,property value, and "marriage value". A 70 year lease is close to the borderline from the mortgage lender's point of view and thus an extension would be desirable and arguably essential.

Ask your solicitor to explain all this in more detail or check out this site:

www.lease-advice.org.uk

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