Charlottesquare wrote:TahiPanasDua wrote:Charlottesquare wrote:stevensfo wrote:I've never owned a flat in the UK, so this Leasehold business is all a mystery. It sounds like one big con!
Is it true that Leasehold only exists in England and Wales , but not in Scotland? How do they do it there?
Steve
Re residential correct, really no leasehold residential properties (There is a 1974 Scottish Land Act preventing residential leases over 20 years) You do see ground rents/long leaseholds sometimes with commercial but it is not that common. (I have only ever seen one in Edinburgh)
What we have is each owner having a right in common with each other owner re the solum (ground underneath property) and varying servitude rights re use and burdens (obligations), e.g support - first floor maybe obliged to hold up second floor).
Sorting common repairs can sometimes be messy, especially with a difficult neighbour, however council can operate common repair schemes (They give notice, instruct works, for larger schemes appoint managers, and bill owners with usually a 20% extra uplift as a good incentive for owners to do works without enforcement. We also have Land Tribunal Tenement Management Schemes being set up which forces works to be done with a majority. (Have one on the go at present, £135-£165k roof scheme, we pay 24%)
In effect each flat title is 100% of a horizontal slice out of the building and common ownership of the other bits like ground/ stairs/roofs etc, repairing obligations often following ownership but sometimes not (there are the odd Edinburgh top floor flats liable to maintain the roof all on their own, or some like my house (Split Victorian semi) where front and back elevations are each responsibility of respective owners upper and lower parts, end gable in entirety joint between the two of us, roof joint between the two of us, party wall with next door 50% the two of us 50% our neighbour.
Effectively all sorts of perms re rights/obligations are possible (though relatively recent feudal reform has allowed the removal of some of the title burdens, often things like feudal superior consents etc)
Hopefully a lawyer from Scotland will post on here in somewhat more precise terms, I only know some of above as I work in property.
We live in a modern flat in Stirling, Scotland. It has a lift which is unusual here as it is not a "retirement" development or former council property. As a result, the flats are in high demand and sell quickly.
All flats are freehold and, as is normal here, typically have a factor, a regulated property manager in Scotland, who deals with common repairs and maintenance, landscaping etc. and all costs are shared. I don't have Charlottesquare's detailed knowledge of the legal status, I can only comment that the factor does a decent job at reasonable shared cost without the outrageous limitations and costs that I occasionally read about in English and Welsh leasehold arrangements. I feel that purchasers in the south would relish our fairer system.
TP2.
If built relatively recently (last 20 years or so) there likely will be a deed of condition (prepared by developer) that dictates how property managed, allows for paid manager- I have been involved with the drafting of three of these over the years (lawyer writes them we input re our experience managing property)
Notwithstanding the ownership of these common areas will likely still rest jointly among the owners, the managers generally do not own the common parts merely manage them.
interestingly years ago I lived in Learmonth Court in Edinburgh (Built 1930s/1940s), the property was managed by an Association created by the builders (ahead of their time) and I ended up as a member of the Committee (snared by the secretary). It actually owned one room , off entrance foyer used by the Committee to meet, and one flat (Caretaker' flat). The roof , corridors, boiler room, lifts, gardens etc were all owned jointly by the 84 flats in the block.
Having done a bit of reading, it appears that in England and Wales (for God's sake why??) the magic number is 80 years. Below 80 years, extension of the leasehold becomes more and more expensive.
What is sad is that when I look on the websites for selling flats, they very rarely mention the leasehold.
[edit]morality[/edit]
Steve