[Vwoolf] The Ramsays in Skye - owning or renting?

[Stuart N. Clarke]

Of course, when it comes to property, I can’t shut up.

I didn’t know that, about floating freeholds, but it is certainly true that a whole aspect of leasehold, which had not been mentioned until Jeremy did, is the business of restrictions (or covenants? no, probably not – that’s another can of worms).  Of course, we have a number of restrictions about what we leaseholders can and cannot do.

I haven’t really experienced mad people, but certainly believe it.  Without question, there are “difficult” people.  Another group to steer clear of – if I may generalise – is that of retired solicitors: time on their hands and a lot of legal knowledge, plus an intimate knowledge of the leasehold restrictions, can make life awkward for those committing the least infringement.  A friend of mine bought a burnt out boathouse on the Thames on land owned by a developer who built a block of flats.  She rebuilt the boathouse in that wooden Swiss chalet style along the original lines, and the tenants of the block of flats have given her hell over the years.

I agree strongly over flat roofs  How they succeed in other countries I don’t know, but we had problems with our house (built in 1936), even though my father was well able to (and did)patch it up.  He always regretted not paying the extra £50 for one without a flat roof (it was just a bit over part of the living room).

Stuart

From: Jeremy Hawthorn via Vwoolf 
Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2020 3:19 PM
To: vwoolf at lists.osu.edu 
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] The Ramsays in Skye - owning or renting?

Mark - 


You are right to distinguish England (and Wales) from Scotland. A quick Google confirms that "When buying a residential property in Scotland, there is no freehold and leasehold distinction. Generally, what you buy in Scotland is 100% yours and you can say everything is 'freehold' in Scotland. In Scotland, once you buy a property, you can usually give a tenancy to someone else so they can occupy it for a rent." So that Leslie Stephen (with a holiday house in England) and Mr Ramsay (with one in Scotland) are in quite different situations.

When I bought a unit in a block of flats (apartments) in England in the early 1970s a lawyer told me that one should never buy a unit in a block freehold, as if you do you (or your neighbours) will end with something called floating freehold, which makes it very difficult to stop owners doing anti-social things. In such situations leasehold is (I was told) a form of protection, as the owner of the property (the leaser) retains certain rights that can prevent lessees doing mad and objectionable things with and in their flats. Why (or if) this is not the case in Scotland, I know not.

Of course, you should also check how many years your lease has to run . . .


One thing I have learned re owning a flat / apartment is this. In every block of flats (as, a colleague once told me, in every English Department) there is at least one mad person. Dealing with him or her is easier and cheaper if there are 150 units than if there are 15.

And while we are on the subject, a bit of sound advice is: never buy a property with a flat roof. You need the law of gravity on your side when it rains.

Jeremy H


On 15.07.2020 15:44, Mark Hussey via Vwoolf wrote:

  A friend in London once explained to me what a “leasehold” meant—but I’ve forgotten the details. It seems peculiar to the UK (or perhaps just England?), where you “own” a flat in a building but you still have to pay some feudal lord in (say) Cornwall) a nominal rent for the land on which the building in which your flat is sits.  Is that right? 😉





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