1 in 15 Stamford Properties are Leasehold

Before I begin, it might be wise to explain the difference between ‘freehold’ and ‘leasehold’.  

When someone owns the freehold of a property they own it outright, including the land it is built on, whilst with a leasehold property the leaseholder owns the property for the length of their lease agreement.  Leaseholders must pay the person who owns the land (the freeholder) ground rent and other fees.  When the leasehold ends, ownership returns to the freeholder.  The leaseholder can extend the lease or they can buy the freeholder out - but there are rules and regulations to comply with.

 Most houses are freehold but some might be leasehold - usually through shared-ownership schemes, but increasingly new homes builders are selling houses on a leasehold tenure.  The protection of the law afforded to leaseholders owning a flat is massive, but is found to be sadly lacking to privately sold leasehold houses.

 Looking specifically at the figures for Stamford, at the last count in PE9 there were 15,072 properties.  Since 1995, 14,934 properties in PE9 have changed hands and have been sold. Looking further at those 14,934 transactions in PE9 since 1995, using data from Land Registry and solicitors practice My-Home-Move, 6.49% have been leasehold (lower than the national average of 15%).

 However, I am concerned about a few ‘new-homes’ builders selling new houses (not flats - houses) as leasehold.  There has been a growing (yet small) trend for new-build houses to be sold as leasehold in recent years. Whilst not all house builders use this model, those that do maintain it helps make developments financially viable.

 The issue comes when builders sell the freehold separately to an investment company without informing the lease holder – which they are legally allowed to do without telling the leaseholder.  In England and Wales, the "right of first refusal" to buy the freehold is written in law to leaseholders of flats i.e. the freeholder must offer it to the leaseholders of all the flats of the building first, but not to leaseholders of houses.

 If you are buying a new home and it’s a house (not a flat), please check very carefully whether it’s freehold or leasehold.  If it is a leasehold, whilst you do have rights, they are not as strong as for those people buying a leasehold flat.  I appreciate this relates to only a very small percentage of the property market, but potentially this could end up costing thousands of pounds to those affected.

 

If you are considering selling your property and would like to discuss its value and your options with me, please contact me on 01780 484 554 or email me via david@upp-property.co.uk  

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

 

Stamford 01780 484 554
Rutland   01572 725 825




David Crooke
Owner & Managing Director