Buying share of flat freehold?

MuvverRussia · 12 Mar 2016 at 14:05

I live in a development of 62 flats. The freehold is up for sale.

What do people think regards to buying a share of it? The current leasehold has circa 91 years remaining (off the top of my head) and the cost to buy the freehold is roughly £375k if I remember right, shared across the 62 flats (so £6k/flat if everyone is in, I'd guess £12k if we're part of the 50%).

I'm not 100% sure what to do. It'd be good to have a share of the freehold (as it gets us out of the leasehold / potential for service fee increases etc), but I'm not sure. We'd be looking at selling the flat in the next 12-24 months probably - would having a share of the freehold really make it more attractive to buyers?

Anyone got any experiences of this?

Cheers!

Superficial · 12 Mar 2016 at 14:43

edit: never mind my mistake.

Shoza · 12 Mar 2016 at 16:14

You will never get enough leaseholders to agree to purchase the freehold in a block that big.

Glaucus · 12 Mar 2016 at 16:34

Shoza said:
You will never get enough leaseholders to agree to purchase the freehold in a block that big.

Not true, my mate got the whole lot for the entire block. Every resident agreed. Although he says it's more of a long term investment for his kids than any short term profit.

Tbh I have no idea how it all works.

Blackjack Davy · 13 Mar 2016 at 02:05

Do it if you get the chance. You'll never be held to ransom over ground rent (freeholder can basically charge whatever he likes. Costs a fortune here). You'll have to weigh up outlay vs potential rent savings and how long to recover said money and whether it will increase the value of the property - speak to an Estate Agent.

Bunka · 13 Mar 2016 at 03:28

If you can get it for that price, do it.

I just renewed my lease for £15k

delta0 · 13 Mar 2016 at 09:14

Blackjack Davy said:
Do it if you get the chance. You'll never be held to ransom over ground rent (freeholder can basically charge whatever he likes. Costs a fortune here). You'll have to weigh up outlay vs potential rent savings and how long to recover said money and whether it will increase the value of the property - speak to an Estate Agent.

Not if you have a statutory extension. The ground rent becomes 'peppercorn', I.e. nil.