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Ground rent is an inherent aspect of leasehold properties in the United Kingdom. Leaseholders must make payments to the freeholder or landlord of the property, and these payments are often considerable.
Ground rent is typically a fixed sum for the life of the contract but sometimes it is an amount that escalates (e.g. £150 per year for the first year, then £160 for the second year, etc.).
Ground rent is often what has become a nominal sum—if the amount is defined at all—called a “peppercorn” in traditional leases. But modern leases sometimes specify terms that increase ground rent over the life of the lease, and very significantly so in some cases. For individuals who hold a lease, this can create huge difficulties, especially if they want to remortgage or sell the property. In response to such problems, the UK government has introduced reforms in leasehold law, but already some of those reforms are generating criticism and questions.
Obtaining the freehold on a house or block of flats can be arduous, but think of the potential increase in the value of your property once you’ve got the freehold. You might have some idea of the value of your flat or rental investment, but do you know how to calculate the freehold?
Use a freehold purchase calculator: this uses the professional principles of valuation that surveyors who specialize in this kind of work employ to value freeholds, leases, and leasehold extensions. The result is a rough estimate that appears to be worth considering.
The lease extension calculator only offers a rough estimate and serves merely as a guide under the assumption that the leases for the entire building are uniform.
If the building has a mix of lease terms or ground rents that vary between leases, please reach out to us for a more accurate assessment of the freehold value. Understanding the factors that go into freehold pricing can help you in that. So, here are a few of them.
Marriage Value: by law, freeholders are entitled to a share of the increase in value obtained by leaseholders who extend their leases. Freeholders get half.
Compensation: if the landlord’s interest is harmed by multiple residents of a building exercising their legal right to buy the freehold (i.e. collective enfranchisement), the freehold owner may look to you for money to offset their loss.
Residents have the option to request a leasehold and use that legal instrument to convert it into a freehold. When they exercise this right, it is called collective enfranchisement.
Leaseholders can buy together and claim the freehold with minimal compensation to the freeholder, and then they can manage their estate. Service charges usually fall after enfranchisement, so that right is good for residents’ savings. Moreover, the leaseholders who exercise this right can get a 999-year lease instead of a 90-year lease. They can also get rid of ground rent.
In general, the purchase price of a freehold will be higher the less time is left on the leasehold, with some recent estimates suggesting that each year left on a lease might be worth as much as £20,000 for the average property.
When you select collective enfranchisement as the method for acquiring the freehold, you can either negotiate privately with the landlord or go through the legal procedure. If you choose the formal negotiation route, you begin by serving a notice on your landlord.
The notice is a fairly important document that contains several necessary pieces of information: it tells the landlord what you want and it is also an offer to the landlord. After serving the notice, we have to wait in suspense for the landlord’s reply.
Should you and your landlord be unable to come to an agreement, you can take your case to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. Just know that the process can be costly, running into the thousands, and you may have to pay some or all of your landlord’s expenses. Before making an offer, we strongly recommend you have a Chartered Surveyor value your freehold. This gives you a baseline figure for your appeal, should it come to that. Of course, you can also estimate the cost using a freehold purchase calculator.
If you require counsel from a qualified expert valuer, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team.
Even if shared ownership’s other perceived advantages make it an attractive option, its valuations aren’t without problems. One of these problems is that shared ownership properties are usually at a discount to the market price, and that discount isn’t always applied consistently or fairly.
Failure to achieve a fair and consistent discount price can create a situation that, in the long run, is disincentivizing to shared ownership because the avenue becomes less affordable.
Another matter is shared ownership’s special nature. This model is a partnership-type arrangement between the resident and the housing association, so it is bound to have its share of disagreements, especially over property valuation. Now, the housing association is likely to want the property it has shared ownership in to be valued as highly as possible, since that would maximize its return in the event of resale or staircase. You, on the other hand, might prefer as low a valuation as possible, since that would minimize your financial outlay.
Furthermore, shared ownership trusts might not increase in value at the same rate as those on the open market, due to resale and buyer eligibility caps, an important consideration for shared owners looking to cash in on property market growth.
If you plan to purchase a larger portion of your shared ownership home, you will need an accurate valuation from an RICS-accredited surveyor. The valuation is valid for 3 months. So, reach out to us and a member of the Notting Hill Valuation Surveyor team will conduct a Shared Ownership Valuation for you.
The Full Building Survey report includes the following:
When it comes to the detail that the surveyor will go into concerning defects, repairs, and maintenance, the Homebuyer Survey is fairly standard. Full Building Surveys, however, are more refined and go into more detail about possible and likely defects. Repairs and maintenance are covered in more detail. The Survey cost depends on the age, size, and value of the property.
The analysis they undertake is a visual inspection. This means that, for the most part, the building components that can be seen will be looked at and assessed in accordance with the surveyor’s remit. The Home Survey Report will show you the visible defects and then go on to discuss the kinds of partially hidden or totally hidden defects that the surveyor thinks you should be aware of. It will also try to clarify what kinds of repair work need to be done and the nature of the repairs. The survey is effectively a way to consider “defects” and their potential impact on the building.
A Building Survey Report contains the most important information for understanding the condition of a property. The surveyors that undertake the work follow a set procedure. The first part of the report contains a general overview of the property and its surroundings. The second part details the major and minor problems with the property’s components, inside and out. These problems range from serious structural defects to issues with doors or windows that don’t close properly, and everything in between. The report is written in clear English, complemented by diagrams and photographs. If any of the problems found are what a surveyor might consider important, that’s what the report indicates—using clear and unambiguous language.
Surveyors usually use a tick box to indicate methods of repair when drafting a building survey report. They are also required to comment on the timescale of any repairs. A condition rating is typically included: what needs to be addressed immediately, what is in the process of deteriorating but is in reasonable condition, and what has not deteriorated at all.
A building surveyor is responsible for a variety of checks and tests during a building inspection. These could be checks or tests for damp and woodworm, or they could be visual inspections of the building’s structure. In building surveying, there are visual inspections of roofs – checking for tiles and slates (if applicable) and also checking for leadwork (if applicable) and looking at the junctions between roof and wall. If the wall structure has brick in it, the surveyor will visually check for any “spalling” (brick breaking apart visibly) and any bulging (brick failing to hold its place visibly), for example.
If defects need fixing immediately, then the options recommended for this survey specify what to repair and give some idea of how long the problem has existed. For the most part, this survey describes recommended repair approaches that are standard in the industry and that do not require excessive expenditure. Future maintenance is also discussed, including what to expect when the problem being surveyed is not repaired and what to expect with repairs that are made but with questionable methodology.
Your surveyor will explain some of the legal aspects of purchasing the building, covering—in as much or as little detail as you desire, and their implications, but this is subject to your solicitor verifying.
You might consider having a separate market valuation done to determine whether the property’s asking price is warranted. You’ll also need a reinstatement cost valuation for insurance reasons.
RICS’s industry guidelines suggest building surveys for properties that are large, very old, in some disrepair, or have unusual features. Building surveys are also recommended if you plan to do any significant renovations or extensions.
If you’re purchasing a relatively modern home that’s in decent shape and built to ordinary standards, then a Home Buyer Survey is an acceptable choice. If you want the assurance of an inspection and report that are pretty much guaranteed to turn up any issues that might be hidden or just hard to see, then you should go for a Full Building Survey instead.
The Full Building Survey is more detailed; it is more specifically tailored to the property your surveyor would be inspecting. It also comes with more advice on the visible defects found and on the potential hidden defects that they suspect may be present. Your surveyor will illustrate reports with photographs so that you can clearly see what has been discovered. Both the Home Buyer and Full Building Surveys describe the repairs needed, the order in which the repairs should be done, and the kind of “maintenance measures” that will be required to keep the property in good condition.
A HomeBuyer Report does include a market valuation as well as reinstatement costs. However, a Full Building Survey does not. The main reason for the differences in what is and isn’t included in the two types of reports is how focused the reports are on the condition of the property. The Full Building Survey is the most in-depth and comprehensive survey of a property that you can have done.
Instructions from Executors and solicitors are promptly processed by the RICS Valuers. Visits to the properties usually occur within 1-2 weeks and often even sooner. After the inspection, the valuation report is usually completed in 3-4 days. The copy—both for yourself and for tax purposes—will be delivered to you quickly by the surveyor.
Looking for a Chartered Surveyor? If you are buying a property, contact us for a building survey. Our panel of CIOB, RPSA and RICS surveyors will help you with the Level 2 or Level 3 property survey you need in Notting Hill. We can also assist you in Red Book Valuations, Party Wall Awards and other services. Reach out to us today for building surveyors, valuers and party wall surveyors in London!
