I used to manage leasehold. Shit job. My manager owned a freehold property for himself and his family and his mantra was "don't buy leasehold" and managing 6000 of the fuckers was his role.
There's leasehold and then there's leasehold: there are some amazing properties in london for the super rich with switched on efficient management.
Most if not all of what I managed was utter shit often retailing at up to £500k . There are so many cons and hidden fines involved in the leases themselves .. But so many people do not have the money to REALLY afford to live in london hence they go in for shared ownership leasehold deals in order to get on the property ladder and they don't get good advice before they do. Then they are often truly fucked. Then they ring people in the job I had and complain. Shit Job as I said.
In terms of landownership I know of buildings situated on land owned by four different companies in a Russian doll type way with massive legal headaches. I didn't manage the building so I didn't care or even try to comprehend it.
You are definitely better off buying freehold. But to be honest that's as obvious as saying you're better off buying a house instead of a flat. Easy to say, hard to do...
There's leasehold and then there's leasehold: there are some amazing properties in london for the super rich with switched on efficient management.
Most if not all of what I managed was utter shit often retailing at up to £500k . There are so many cons and hidden fines involved in the leases themselves .. But so many people do not have the money to REALLY afford to live in london hence they go in for shared ownership leasehold deals in order to get on the property ladder and they don't get good advice before they do. Then they are often truly fucked. Then they ring people in the job I had and complain. Shit Job as I said.
In terms of landownership I know of buildings situated on land owned by four different companies in a Russian doll type way with massive legal headaches. I didn't manage the building so I didn't care or even try to comprehend it.
You are definitely better off buying freehold. But to be honest that's as obvious as saying you're better off buying a house instead of a flat. Easy to say, hard to do...