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Trying to Move House/Flat

43 watchers

Red Squirrel Jul 2017 5:41pm, 17 Jul 2017 20,106 posts	Quote Pin Red Squirrel My friends have the same thing XB. The freeholder apparently went abroad years ago and would now be about 200 years old or summat. No way at the mo to find relatives as someone's already tried. Stupid arrangement. It should be thrown out and people in a building of flats manage it themselves - commonhold I believe it's called or just sharing the freehold.
Red Squirrel Jul 2017 5:42pm, 17 Jul 2017 20,107 posts	Quote Pin Red Squirrel My friends have got a house in a street and all that side are leasehold to the same person wherever they may be. They haven't collected ground rent off anyone.
Meglet Jul 2017 6:09pm, 17 Jul 2017 18,233 posts	Quote Pin Meglet I had no idea about leasehold so I googled the difference. It does seem crazy. I don't really see the point in owning the freehold if the ground rent is so little, I guess a lot of it is historical.
Mandymoo Jul 2017 9:46pm, 17 Jul 2017 5,088 posts	Quote Pin Mandymoo It's the business i work in - ground rent and service demands - yawn .......
Red Squirrel Jul 2017 9:56pm, 17 Jul 2017 20,110 posts	Quote Pin Red Squirrel Owning the freehold means the property is yours and not leased. It feels weird someone else owning the bricks and yours is the inside bit until the lease runs out. I don't know how these people ended up being the freeholders in the first place. I assumed it was always someone in the building, but doesn't always seem to be the case. They are responsible for exterior repairs and maintenance tho', so it makes sense to be someone in residence.
Meglet Jul 2017 10:17pm, 17 Jul 2017 18,239 posts	Quote Pin Meglet I wonder if often it's the old estates? In Tadcaster the miserable brewery owner also owns much of the town, I believe he owns a significant chunk of the City in London too.
Red Squirrel Jul 2017 10:10pm, 22 Jul 2017 20,123 posts	Quote Pin Red Squirrel I looked at a house this morning with plenty of issues. Out of my price range but I'd offer much lower and make sure it had a proper survey before proceeding or not. rightmove.co.uk It's got water ingress in several places and hasn't been maintained even though the owner lives there. The carpets are threadbare and stained in places and there's blown render and plaster. No smells tho'. I took a handyman friend with me and 2 other pals joined us. We all agreed it had great potential and a lovely feel. The layout is perfect for me and storage is really good inc for bikes.
Meglet Jul 2017 8:59am, 23 Jul 2017 18,257 posts	Quote Pin Meglet Modernising doesn't particularly put me off but structural maintenance does. I guess it depends how bad it is, but sometimes these things need a lot of ongoing care. I had a viewer on Thursday-who are also friends of my inlaws looking to downsize from a massive house with over large garden. One more booked for Tuesday evening
XB Jul 2017 7:36am, 24 Jul 2017 5,605 posts	Quote Pin XB Looks like you could soon knock it in to shape, RS, and then add to it as you go. There's certainly plenty of space; good garden too.
Velociraptor Jul 2017 8:21am, 24 Jul 2017 36,520 posts	Quote Pin Velociraptor It's a good size of house, RS, but looks as if it could turn out to be a money pit.