Selling Buying Property in the UK: Boundary Lease Plans

This excerpt is from a chapter in the book, THE TRUTH ABOUT PROPERTY, written by NRLA trainer, Henry Davis, www.henrydavisproperty.com. 

A few basic questions you need to ask are:

1. How many years are left on the lease?
2. How much is the annual ground rent and monthly maintenance?
3. Does the maintenance have escalating costs?

Check that the boundary plan correctly reflects the actual boundary map copy in the legal pack (go on Maps and click on Birds Eye), and check if the boundary looks like it should do based on reading the boundary map you got in the legal pack. If it’s not in the pack, download your copy from the Land Registry.

Another common problem concerns the lease plan in an apartment block and if it doesn’t actually reflect the apartment configuration. This happened to me once when the previous leasehold owner decided to reconfigure his apartment, but without permission from the freeholder. The apartments were listed as two-bed apartments, but when my solicitor read the lease plan, the apartment I was interested in was actually shown as a one-bed apartment on the Land Registry, and it was unlawfully converted with an extra bedroom without the freeholders’ consent. Effectively, it’s a one-bedroom apartment and should be valued as such, but if you don’t read the lease plan you can easily end up paying for an illegal conversion which is worth significantly less.

Boundaries

Make sure the boundaries are clearly defined, edged in red and shown by reference on an HM Land Registry compliant scale plan. Inspect the site and make sure the physical boundaries on the ground match the plan and that there are no anomalies. A plot will often be formed from part of an existing dwelling, someone’s garden or one of several adjacent self-build plots. Make sure they are accurately indicated to reflect the scaled plan.

Henry is the CEO of We Buy Any House and Genii Developments Ltd and a developer for over 32 years. He is also an accredited Property trainer for the National Residential Landlords Association. 

Copyright, Henry Davis. www.henrydavisproperty.com