Freehold lease

[dfatih]

I live in a freehold property (a flat in a converted Victorian house) and am currently trying to find a new mortgage lender. However, very few will lend on a freehold property. Does anybody know why? Many thanks, Driss

[geofbob]

This reluctance is because where a few individual flat-owners share a freehold, they are not always rigorous about carrying out repairs and maintenance to the fabric of the property, each of them possibly hoping that they will have moved out before major work and the associated expense are absolutely necessary. Often, even though their leases require them to set aside money for future major repairs, they fail to do so. Obviously, building societies and banks are not too kean to lend money on property that might lose its value in the longer term.

[Miss Zippy]

I'm sure geofbob is correct in his reasoning for some lenders' reluctance, but I don't recall having problems getting mortgages for freehold flats. I currently have mortgages with Nationwide Building Society and Bank of Ireland (buy to let), both for freehold flats, so give them a try if you haven't already.