Shared Leasehold- what is a fair deal?

[ronaldaveyo]

I have had an offer accepted on a shared freehold flat. The lease between the current owner and the freeholding entity has a 70 year lease and they are asking to extend this.

As a condition of agreeing to the extension, the owner of the freehold for the downstairs flat wants to change the terms so that he is responsible for problems on the ground floor (eg foundations) and I, as the new owner, will be responsible for the roof.

A pretty shrewd move by him I think as the chances are I will incur more costs in the roof than he will in the foundations!

This was disclosed to me at the start of the sale and before I made my offer. I didnt realise the significance of this until now (not an excuse, just explaining where I am)

My solicitor advises that this change is puts me in a worse position and advises the terms stay as they are, even if this means opening up negotiations again. The seller states there is no negotiation to be had.

Should I just take this on the chin? Not sure what other options are open to me. Its a bit worrying that I've been given such a short and aggressive response to a simple offer....

Perhaps I should accept the lease with the length it currently is, as my lender has agreed to this and fight it out directly with downstairs once I own the place. As the clock starts ticking though, I dont want to be stuck with a flat I cant sell on as the potential buyers cannot get a mortgage

Any advice anyone has would be much appreciated as not really sure who to turn to here and getting pressure to make a deicision soon...

[buildersmate]

Take the advice of your solicitor - he is being paid to give you the best advice - I'm not.
My opinion is leave the lease length as it is and purchase without the degradradation in lease term. Then consider opeing a renegotiation on the length - 70 years is still a fair length of time away.

[ronaldaveyo]

Thanks buildersmate, much appreciated

[satprof]

How about getting an insurance broker to quote you for insurance on the roof. If it's a reasonable annual sum, you can then go ahead with a long lease.