Leasehold, flat new roof £32,000, have to pay in advance

Barleyfields

Some residential leases are granted for 999 years. How do you expect existing leases to be changed?

These are not my expectations; they are the government's.

Leasehold reform timeline: What’s going to happen and when. A statement from the government on 21 November 2024, sets out how and when the government will implement parts of the rest of the Act

January 2025: The government removes the two-year restriction on enfranchisement and lease extension claims from the point of property purchase.

Spring 2025: It says it will commence the provisions on the Right to Manage which increase access to the right for leaseholders in mixed-use buildings, alongside reforming costs and voting rights.

Summer 2025: The government will consult on the valuation rates used to calculate the cost of enfranchisement premiums. Parliament will need to approve the secondary legislation that sets out the detail, ‘as well as fixing the Act’s serious flaws in further primary legislation, before implementing the package’.

2025: The government will consult on implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act’s new consumer protection provisions for homeowners on freehold estates; and on service charges and legal costs and bring these measures into force as quickly as possible afterwards.

Home Owners Alliance

Taxed very highly especially through inheritance.
The taxes paid could help build council homes.

Some residential leases are granted for 999 years. How do you expect existing leases to be changed?

We are still expecting it to be changed Barleyfields. I haven't heard the government row back on their will to do this. However, it certainly is difficult.

It isn’t that simple. Commonhold was tried and as I have already said it didn’t catch on. It may be different in France but we are not in France. You bought a leasehold flat in the UK and have to live with UK law.

Barleyfields. karmalady

I have lived in several common hold flats in France for the last 45 years, there is no problem.

The English/Welsh governments need to get it sorted by introducing new laws stopping the of sale of new leases as and when they come up.

In our case, one of 40 properties interlinked and with communal areas in a grand mansion plus use of 40 acres of wooded parkland. Buying leasehold as part of freehold was a very good thing. We each had use of tennis courts, croquet lawn and all that parkland etc. That could only happen because of the combination of properties

Mokryna, leaseholders can indeed make moves to own their own properties these days but it involves dedicated people to get the ball rolling and a willing group of leaseholders

It was glorious having the 40+ acres of wooded land

The alternative, commonhold, is very complex and never caught on. You obviously don’t understand the system mokryna.

Personally, England and Wales should stop leaseholds, it was a medieval method of the Lord of the Manor and is now the very rich, keeping their claws into hardworking people by not allowing them to own their own bricks and mortar.

It wouldn’t surprise me if these people don’t pay inheritance taxes either because of trusts or off island investments.

It is down in writing PN.

That if a leaseholder defaults on any outstanding charges, that charge plus the accrued compound interest, which is usually basic bank interest plus a % above, is removed in total from the amount paid to a leasehold seller. Statements are sent annually, showing any accrued debt as well as current amount for management charge. The leaseholder signs up to all the articles when buying a property

The solicitor for the seller does that, not the freeholder. I used to get a letter from the sellers solicitor asking if there was any unpaid debt wrt management charges

It is the last resort where the owner of a lease consistently defaults. It requires the sanction of the court but is a powerful threat. One has to think of the interests of all other flat owners if one refuses to comply with the terms of their lease. I don’t agree that it needs ‘sorting out’.

Barleyfields

They would default on their obligations under their lease to contribute their share of the cost of repairing the roof and the landlord could forfeit their lease.

And, as I understand it (but would love to be wrong), this means the flat is sold and the landlord can take all it sells for if they choose to do so, whatever is owed. That is certainly an area of leasehold that need sorting out.

The landlord/management company could try to borrow the money and the owners of the leases would then have to repay the loan including interest.

Oopsadaisy1
Fortunately, I had been saving for the refurbishment of my flat although I don’t have it all. But I don’t believe that is the case for the other leaseholders. I have told a bewildered young neighbour to ask advice from CABueau.

In France it is the law that there is a ‘sink fund’ of X per cent per year, paid into an account. When an owner sells a property they are refunded what they have paid in.
When a property is being sold, the buyer, by law, has to have copies of all the correspondence dealing with the building’s meetings of the last 5 years (I believe).. This should show any pending problems.

They would default on their obligations under their lease to contribute their share of the cost of repairing the roof and the landlord could forfeit their lease.

What happens if some people don’t have a handy £32k in their bank or any means of getting a loan?

It probably worth making people looking for retirement flats aware that:

"Some leases (common in retirement properties) provide for a contribution into the reserve fund out of sale proceeds whenever the lease is sold. This is typically a percentage of the sale price or a percentage of any increase in value since purchase. These leases are designed to keep the monthly (or annual) service charge costs at a more affordable level by deferring the reserve fund contributions until the leaseholder has received a capital receipt out of which a one-off contribution can be made."

Although, as has been said, a solicitors should make the terms of the Leasehold very clear.

Franbern, give people some credit. Everyone knows that the money has to come from somewhere and does not appear as if by magic

Agreed. We just call it a reserve fund. The rate is set by the residents committee and voted on at our AGM.

People writing here about the need of a 'Sinking Fund' makes it seem as if that just 'magics' itself into being.

Sinking or Reserve funds have to be built up, slowly, from the annual Maintenance charges, which are levied on all the flats.

At present all costs of running a large building are rising very fast, including things like Insurance as well all the legislative checks, and all building and decorating work.

This means that increase in annual maintenance charge has to cover all these extra costs. In order to increase the amount put aside for the sinking fund has to come out of this, which means even more of an increase. And all such increases have to fought through AGM's

My mother and the other apartments have employed a surveyor and he has been in the roof space and said it's as dry as a bone the leaking is coming from the windows not the roof like the management company was trying to make them pay for.my mother also did some digging and found out they apparently sold the company to another management company some time ago it's the same company just different name these companies need watching they think because people are getting on they can have them off watch them

Any grant would be for the building regardless of the sub-division into flats. You could try Historic England and the local authority but I doubt the latter has much spare cash.

As it is a grade 11 building are there any grants you know of for flats?

The quotes should be issued by email to every member that shouldn’t be a big issue.surely

I would want to know the company they are using. I would want to see the actual quote and I would also want to know how much they require upfront. How many of you are actually needed to pay this bill? How big is the roof? Especially a flat roof That seems an astronomical amount of money just the £32,000 never mind everybody else’s too!