Leasehold

[Homebuyer1]

Hi , a relative found a house they loved , put in an offer which was accepted and conveyancing began.

It wasn't until near the end of the conveyancing when their Solicitor informed them that the property they were purchasing was a leasehold property!

Now the lease has over 900 yrs owing on it with a ground rent charge of £25 per Yr which the solicitor states is never demanded. we are in Northern Ireland and the house is an ex Housing Executive property.

The purchaser would like to own the freehold (I understand the lease is over 900 yrs , but they would still like to own the freehold).

We have been reading about redeming the ground rent and if we are understanding this correctly then this would transfer the freehold over to the purchaser?

The fee is 9 x the annual ground rent plus a £50 land registry fee , but this seems very cheap.

Has anyone any experience of this process? Is it really as simple as filling in a few forms , having them certified by a solicitor, informing the freeholder that we have applied to redem the ground rent and then its done?

Can it be done as soon as the house is purchased or do we have to wait a period of time?

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance

[dslippy]

If you own a lease for 900 years, then in reality, all the freeholder owns is a right to £25 a year. It is not very valuable. I doubt that the procedure is as you describe it. It makes sense to do it all together.