Purchase of Freehold on 999 year Lease

[daveyravey]

Hello
We own the lease on our Huddersfield Victorian terrace house which has 870 years left to run. Our neighbours,who own the freehold have offered us the freehold for £300 plus legal fees (about £250). Our ground rent is £5, 19 shillings and sixpence per year which I pay with a round of drinks every now and again.
They are expecting to sell the property in the near future.
Does this sound like a reasonable price and worth doing?
Regards
Dave
Huddersfield

[JustinN]

On the basis that selling a freehold title is easier, quicker and cheaper than selling a leasehold title, I would have thought it is a good investment. The legal costs should be small: no more than £200 + VAT and the Land Registry copy, search and registration fees of about £70.

However, if you have a mortgage over the leasehold, either you will need to substitute it with a mortgage over the freehold - involving more legal fees and probably an admin fee charged by the lender - or you leave the two titles separate: when you come to sell, you sell both, and they merge in your buyer's hands. This means that the benefit of buying the freehold is not as great if a mortgage involved, but I reckon it is still worthwhile - if nothing else, it avoids the need to liaise with a separate freeholder when you sell or re-mortgage

I hope this helps