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Hello, I apologise if this has been asked before. I have a property (owned personally) which is currently on a BTL mortgage which is to be refinanced. The tenant is moving out but I wish to now start a service accommodation business through a limited company. Can I use a commercial lease to rent this property from myself? If so, what mortgage do I need, would a BTL mortgage suffice with a guaranteed rent from the (my) limited company? Any tips would be appreciated and welcome! Yvonne

A small office lease in the West Midlands that I'm considering is £6500 per annum / £10 sq/ft. What price do you think is reasonable to offer in light of covid and presumably lower demand? My conditions would likely be a 12 month initial term with a 6 month break clause, though I would be happy to sign for 24 months. I appreciate that this is a niche question, I don't know that much about commercial property leases as I'm principally involved in residential. Many thanks. James.

Hi, my name is Belinda and I have a 6 bedroom HMO in Croydon. I would like to rent this to a healthcare company who would manage it for me and put in their clients and pay me a guaranteed monthly rent. We would use a 3/5 year lease for this. I would need to give notice to my current tenants in order to make this work. The reason for this is so that I don't have to deal with the day to day necessities of running an HMO. I had an agent looking after the property but he gave notice when the lockdown for Covid 19 started and I have been managing it since. I would need to get approval from TMW my mortgage company and I believe, the Council as I have my HMO licence conditions to keep. Does anyone have any experience of having done this before please or any advice on a solicitor and whether this has worked out well for you? Thanks. Belinda

Hi all, Really hope someone can provide some guidance here. My greedy freeholder wants to charge me £130 for our sublet. Fortunately, I listened to episode 228 the day after receiving the letter from them and was encouraged to hear Rob thoughts that this was outrageous and a fair price would be £40. I printed off the template provided and sent it off to the freeholder. Last week, I got a response (attached). Basically they're saying they're well within their rights to charge what they want and quote some other cases where similar decisions have been made. Has anyone else been in this situation or do you have any advice on how I should proceed? From what I can say I need to pay but would love to get some feedback as this is something I know little about. Thanks so much in advance Phil

Hey, My name is Ashley Williams, age 26, from Shropshire. I’m currently saving up for my first buy to let. While I’ve been saving up I have spent a lot of time researching how to invest in property and I came across lease option agreements, and love the idea of them especially if you can find a landlord that wants to off load some/all of their properties, if done properly it can save the landlord a lot of time and money. I would love to find someone that has got experience in lease option agreements and could show me how they work (mentor) All the best.

Hi all I have recently had an offer accepted on a property. The terms of the lease state that the ground rent will increase from £250 per annum from 2017 every 10 years by £250 by a maximum of 5 times to £1500 in 2067. So £250 from 2017 to 2027 £500 from 2027 to 2037 £750 from 2037 to 2047 £1000 to from 2047 2057 £1,250 from 2057 to 2067 £1,500 from 2067 to 2077 RPI thereafter Is this something I should avoid? EA says if it was to double he would avoid but increase of 250 every 10 years is ok considering inflation, paid amounts, RPI and value of the pound e.g. 50 years ago, £250 would be the equivalent of £4407 in today’s money Any advice or opinions much appreciated Thanks Adib

Hi All, Hoping someone can help, just about to complete on a one bed flat, the management fee seemed quite high for the size of property and looking at the lease it seems that the fee is split equally among apartments in the block regardless of size, so for this flat I pay the same amount as a 2 bed which is more or less twice the size. This seems unfair to me for obvious reasons and its obviously why the fee is on the high side. I've no experience with buying apartments and just wondered if this was normal, I always assumed it would be split based on square meter-age or at least number of beds? I'm also worried the split could potentially reduce the future value? I'm guessing if its in the lease it is set in stone and cant be changed? Just looking for thoughts on whether this is normal or not? TIA...

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/238071 10k signatures = govt must respond 100k signatures = debate in parliament

I own 3 buy to let flats two are tenanted. One 1 bed flat, in a good area on the south coast near Brighton for serviced accommodation, it only has a lease of 66 years and my buy to let mortgage has expired, I cannot find a buy to let mortgage company who will mortgage the flat. It has been on the market and empty as I was giving up on the buy to let although it was giving me a good profit of £500 a month. I have been racking my brains and I have been hearing about the serviced accommodation business. I am thinking if I could get a serviced accommodation company set up, could I get a commercial mortgage on the property and a business loan to cover the £12k cost of extending the lease and a further advance to furnish, buy white goods and a general tidy up of the flat. Any ideas would be appreciated, no-one has suggested this, it was just an idea. I don't want to let the flat go cheaply. As it has been empty for a while I have lost that income so I now need help to turn it into SA. My credit rating isn't good due to caring for my elderly Mum who has dementia, I was supporting her and my children on my own. She now has carers and my children are independent but its left me with this situation. I am experienced in property having done bed and breakfast, built my own home and owned other properties. I want to get going again now I am free.

Hello im looking to extend the lease on my flat. There is 56 years remaining. I’ve contacted the lease hold company and they replied with this email. you have a legal right to apply for a new lease of 90 years beyond the current term unexpired, at a peppercorn rental (nil ground rental). The landlord is willing on a without prejudice and subject to contract basis to consider informal proposals (thus saving some legal costs for you). He would consider an extension mirroring the statutory basis as above. In order to advise him on the premium (price) I will need to undertake a valuation, for which he would expect my fees to be covered by you (as would be the case if you made a formal claim). The fee is £585 plus vat. Provided we are able to agree things swiftly after that, there would be no further fees except that you would have to cover the landlord’s legal fees for preparation of the new documentation. It is your prerogative to instruct your own surveyor to advise you on values (I will still need to advise the landlord separately) and indeed you could decide to go down the statutory route of extending by serving formal notice (in which case the landlord’s valuation and legal costs would be paid on top of the premium). This sounds like the landlord wants to do it privately. Is there anything for me to be concerned about with this process? What fees am I obligated to pay for? And if I do not have the funds to renew the lease now, can I attach the cost of that to the sale of the flat? thank you any advice is appreciated

Hi all, I own a flat in a converted house, with a share of freehold (I, along with the other flat owners, are equal shareholders in the management company which owns the freehold). All the owners have agreed that as our leases only have 55ish years remaining we should extend them, and this has been agreed and a solicitor engaged to handle this. I recently received my new counterpart lease, and am a little surprised at its format, so am interested to know from more experienced folk if this is OK and normal. The new counterpart lease is a very bare-bones document compared to the original , and there are many references to the "old lease", which is defined in one of the clauses of the new lease, referencing the old title number. The new lease states that the old lease will be surrendered, and that "the Landlord demises to the Tenant the Premises with the same rights exceptions and reservations as are expressed in the Old Lease with full title guarantee to hold the same unto the tenant for the term of xx years... subject as mentioned in the Old Lease and subject to and with the benefit of the Tenant's and the Landlord's covenants respectively contained in the Old Lease..." However, the solicitor has confirmed that on completion the old lease will be removed from the land registry, and the copy that I have will be the only copy. This strikes me as very odd - the new lease has very little information in it, other than that referencing the old lease. If the old lease is removed from the registry and I have the only copy (and all the other flat owners are in the same position), then I don't see what would be stopping any of us altering the "old lease" and claiming that those altered conditions applied now. Effectively I am protected in various ways from my neighbours (noise, occupancy rules, etc etc) by the terms and covenants in their leases, and I'm concerned that these protections may be at risk. I was expecting a simple alteration of the end date of the original lease. Or failing that, a fully drafted new lease with all the appropriate wording - but the solicitor says that the proposed lease is fine and avoids the "huge expense" of drafting a whole new lease. I've already picked up on some straightforward errors by the solicitor so I don't have full confidence in them - they were appointed by one of the other flat owners, and I just want to be sure everything is in order. Any thoughts on whether I have anything to be concerned about would be most welcome! Thanks, Anthony

Hello all! I'm not sure if anyone may be able to help me on this one, I'm looking at purchasing a 2 bedroom flat with great refurb potential, excellent location etc. It's a great box ticker put it that way, apart from the one issue that there is only 97 years left on the lease. The freehold is owned by the local authorities and I would have to have owned the property for 2 years before I would be able to apply to extend the lease. When I enquired with the agent about the potential cost of extension they said at a guess it would be 8-10k (which wouldn't be an issue due to my purchase cost being good), however the council will only disclose that information to the current owner (by law I assume?). That information has been requested but they are by no means obliged to let me know. Even if that information does come back and it's roughly what I expected, then are there any guarantees I will definitely be able to extend the lease? Has anyone else encountered this before? As I mentioned it's a fantastic investment on paper, but this is a sticking point. I obviously don't want to make the purchase then be stuck with a property I can't extend a lease on. Especially with the clock ticking away two years in the process! If anyone has any advice on it that would be much appreciated!

Hi. We’re in the process of purchasing a flat and are fairly near completion. So we’re in for legal fees / surveys etc. Our solicitor has just informed us that the lease on the property has a clause which stipulates that the property can not be let out. There are lots of properties already openly let in the block via the normal channels - estate agents / Rightmove etc. we really don’t want to lose the flat. Does anyone have any experience of this and any ideas on solutions? our solicitor has already requested confirmation from the sellers solicitors that we will have permission to let. many thanks.

Hi all, Hope you can help! I own a leasehold flat with a remaining lease term of 84 years. Myself and the other leasehold flat owner would like to buy the freehold. The management company that currently own the freehold want to charge us a fee just to get a quote to buy the freehold - is this normal? And if so, is there a 'fair' price to be aware of? The flat is based in Kent, can anyone recommend a good solicitor to deal with the lease extension? Thanks very much in advance Ohil

Hi, I found a property that ticks all the boxes in terms of deposit, cashflow, fundamentals, etc. Looking a bit more closely it looks like the reasonable price may be due to the lease being at 87 years at the moment and it may be (not sure yet, need to call to confirm) that it's privately owned and would be subject to chain. This would be my first dip into the property business but I feel (naively maybe) that it shouldn't be too bad as I could ask the current landlord to start the process to renew the lease. Now what am I missing? Would my lender have issues with the lease as it stands? Could I get something on paper stating that the current landlord is going to start the process to give to my lender? How would we do the whole thing? Does the current landlord pay my solicitor and I pay him back at the end of the sale? Does it even make sense to do it now or should I wait to have the property for 2 years and then renew? Thanks.

I am new to property investment and I have just set up a company to buy properties using mortgages. I have a mortgage in principle. I recently found a 2 bedroom semi-detached house (property is about 18yrs old) in the North of England. I was told by a property agent that the property is currently owned by a certain company and that it is a leasehold property with 981years left on the lease. They said I would have to pay ground rent of £55 per year. Is this figure of 981years normal?? Would it be easy to add value to the property by extending it or this is not permissible for leasehold properties? How do I protect myself from unfair increases of this ground rent in coming years? Can such a property be converted to freehold and is it worth it anyway or should I rather imagine this was a leasehold flat and just treat it so?? When I put in an offer, the agent said the company was happy with the offer but would continue with viewings until exchange was completed. In fact there is a second agent trying to market the same property. Is it safe to continue with this deal? How does one protect themselves in such circumstances? Interestingly, this in a new estate, less than 20 years old, a similar semi-detached house on the estate is being marketed as a freehold property. Does it mean anyone can simply decide to turn their property from freehold to leasehold?? What are the advantages of doing so?

Hi there! I'm seeking some advice from forum readers, hope someone will be able to help. I am getting close to exchange for a flat I'm buying in London SE8 and doubts are starting to to assail me, after reading doom & gloom stories about the UK property market (and especially London) flatlining and potentially gearing towards a massive decline. I fear that I'm about to buy at the peak of a property bubble, which may soon burst, leaving me in negative equity with an overpriced studio flat in my hands that is worth much less what i paid for. The specifics: I'm purchasing a large-ish (35smq) studio flat in Deptford, London, which has a short lease and is in need of major renovations (with everything that comes with that - lawyers' fees, negotiations and various hassles). The asking price is £200,000, with a further £30,000 I am expecting to pay for the lease extension and renovations. On a positive side, in a couple of years I could find myself owning a long-leased, completely renovated, super studio (separate kitchen, separate bedroom, lounge, hallway) for £230,000. For the current market conditions, and considering it is 2 minutes' walk to two mainline stations, 5 minutes by train to London Bridge and 10 to Cannon Street, it seems a bargain. However, here's my doubt: what if the market continues to decline and potentially slumps in London after the elections and because of the Brexit uncertainty? What if the same property in six months' time would be worth 10% less its current asking price and I find myself in negative equity? I know no-one has a crystal ball to predict what's likely to happen, however I am reaching out to see if anyone is in the same boat, faces similar dilemmas, and what their thinking is. Thanks! J

Hi, does anyone have any experience with 'rent to buy' or lease options? I would just like some advice/information on them please Thanks

Good morning hubbers, I'm looking for a quick bit of advice from someone who has good knowledge of leases and getting consent to let from a freeholder. From what I have read previously in forums it seems that if a lease holder wants to sub let they always need consent from the freeholder and have to pay some kind of admin fee and send documents such as the AST and tenant references to the freeholder (or agent working for the freeholder). My question is, is this always the case? The reason I ask is because I approached the managing agent of my freeholder and asked them about getting consent to let my leasehold property. At first they told me there would be a fee and they would require the documentation I mentioned above. I looked at my lease and found that there was no mention of having to pay any fee to gain consent to sub let and no mention of even having to get any type of consent. I went back to the same managing agent and queried this and they immediately said I was right and that I did not need any kind of written consent as it is written in to my lease. This has left me slightly confused. I've never heard of a lease not requiring these things to get consent to sub let. Has anyone else experienced this? Kind regards James

Leaseholds - Something that puts some people off - and fear often comes from lack of knowledge. So let's get educated with this week's episode. Listen here.

Hello I am so pleased I have found this forum. I am a self- employed writer and live at my mums in London. A few months ago, I was in my bedroom thinking there must be more to life other than staring at 4 walls so decided to become a property investor part time. I went on that Robbie Fowler day course. Loved it! Was so inspired. Was gonna go on the weekend course but family talked me out of it. Cue researching on property courses - did not know this was such a lucrative market. I have a property in London – jointly owned. It’s rented out – to students - and it’s my main source of income. I am in the process of remortgaging and have 100k to invest. I go up to Coventry twice a week and view places and I love it. Have put in several offers – all rejected… Spoken to estate agents to find out what they went for. It’s all so interesting and am learning so much. Eg how Estate agents hold open days so that it looks like there’s loads of competition!! These are the ones you can get the deals on if you know what you’re getting! What I’ve learnt so far: I’m rubbish at negotiating – really, really need to work on this! There is always going to be a property that I really, really want – so relax I need to hook up with a good builder. Anyone know of one?? 100K goes quick if you’re not too careful! Cash is king... Maybe all this is covered in books? Anyway I am in the process of buying my 1st property so I’ve taken the plunge and feel less jittery about it all. So far I am really enjoying it… and it’s really hard to keep it part-time as it’s all I think about. I also wonder if there's a certain personality that is suited to this as I'm so indecisive but I am hoping that confidence will come with knowledge and I'll be that person who is like - yes, get it! Goals: Move out. Get monthly rental income of 10K (I am having a meeting with RMP next month to discuss goals as I feel I need to have a few more...) Take care Janice

Hi guys I have slowly lost confidence and then trust in my conveyancer and was wondering if anyone could recommend a consultant style service where a qualified individual has a quick chat with me and a look over the legal documentation involved with a purchase, for reassurance purposes. If this doesn't exist, can anyone recommend a good solicitors or conveyancer? I am purchasing a leasehold flat as a first time buyer, I started becoming worried when mu conveyancer was unable to get confirmation for seemingly straightforward details. When I received an expense statement for 25% more than I was quoted I started asking questions. I have been told things such as my flat is classed as a new build due to leases having to be drafted by the vendor who is also the builder, even though 2 of the flats in the building sold in 2007. My flat doesn't appear on the Title Information Under Schedule of Notice Lease and have been told this isn't an issue. I have no idea whether the explanations I have received are true or not. I looked up my conveyancer on 'The Specialist Property Law Regulators' search engine and he doesn't appear as a licensed conveyancer although other people at his firm do. However, I don't even know if it is a legal requirement to be licensed or if it is standard practice to have unlicensed conveyancers working under the supervision of another. This is the tip of the iceberg really, so was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. Many thanks Tony

Hi, I am looking to purchase a flat that comes with a share of the freehold, however it also has a lease of 89 years unexpired. How are the lease terms decided if I get a share of the freehold with the flat? Amanda

Hi Looking to make my first leap into property investment this year, and have a session booked in with RMP property later this month which I'm looking forward to! Apart from reading an absolute ton of information on all things property related, I thought I would do a bit of "practice deal finding" by trawling through the current Savills auction catalogue and running the numbers on some of the lots. I keep coming across the phrase "A new lease to be granted on the date of completion". Apologies for whats probably a rather basic question, but does this mean all the costs of the lease extension have been included in the sale price? Or do I need to still account for costs here? Thanks, Andy