sue white

Hi I bought a Leasehold semi detached house in Sheffield 2 years ago. The Freehold is owned by Shef council and I do not pay any ground rent. My solicitor advised me that after two years I can apply to the council to buy the Freehold. The previous owner built a conservatory and porch without planning permission. The porch is one storey high and about 1sq m, nowhere near any public pathway or road. The conservatory is on the back of the house and just over 3m deep. I believe the council will visit the house to work out how much they want to sell the Freehold for. I'm wondering if I'm likely to have any issues if/when they realise there is no planning permission on the porch/conservatory. If anyone has any useful info I'd appreaciate it. Thanks

Thanks This is what my solicitor said... 'The Councils legal costs will be approx. £400.0 plus vat and they will also charge you for their surveyors fees of £300.00 plus vat (approx.). In addition you will have your own legal costs which would be approx. £500.00. This would all be in addition to the premium that the Council charge for the sale of the Freehold title.'

Hi All I'm in the process of buying a house which was advertised to me as freehold. The solicitor has found out that it's actually leasehold (104 years left on the lease, freeholder is Shef City Council). It's in Walkley/Upperthorpe area and was on the market for £165k. The vendor isn't prepared to go to the council for the valuation to find out the cost of buying the freehold, as this is likely to take 8 weeks. He's offered me £5k reduction on the price. My solicitor has quoted me £2k ish for the council's valuation and solicitor's fees to find out the cost of buying the freehold (which I will legally be allowed to once I've lived there fore two years). Does anyone have any idea whether the £5k seems like a reasonable reduction, or is it likely to come to more than that in total? Thanks