Selling property with high ground rent

A high ground rent at your leasehold property could make it harder to attract interest from buyers, but there are still steps that can help with selling your house or flat.

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Your top questions when selling property with high ground rent

✅ What are property ground rents in the UK?

In the UK, properties are either freehold, which means you own the property and the land on which it was built outright, or leasehold, which means that you own the home for a set number of years and then pay the freeholder of the property an annual ground rent. This charge is on top of whatever other costs the buyer might have, such as their mortgage payments.

✅ How much are ground rents for leasehold properties?

The exact amount of ground rent will vary from home to home but there are some properties where the freeholder will only charge a peppercorn rent or a miniscule amount. Some local authorities will charge their leaseholders ground rents as low as £50 per year, whereas you might find private buyers that charge excessively high amounts of ground rent to buyers.

✅ What is the ground rent scandal in the UK?

This is the revelation that many homeowners across the country have been caught up in lease agreements where they are being charged very large ground rents, and with conditions attached that allow the freeholder to keep raising the amount of ground rent. Left unchecked, this could result in some owners paying ground rents of more than £10,000 by 2060.

✅ Why does a high ground rent make it harder to sell a home?

Because many buyers will be discouraged by the idea of having to pay a large amount of money each year for a property through ground rent, in addition to any mortgage payments, utility bills and other expenses. You might find also that some mortgage lenders won’t grant loans to buy homes with high ground rents because they may see the property as harder to resell.

✅ What are my options for trying to sell my home with high ground rent?

You generally have four options to choose from, which are selling to a quick buyer, selling on your own, selling via an estate agent or selling at a property auction. There are unique advantages to each of these methods, but some also have rather notable drawbacks, for example if you sell on your own then it might take over a year to find a buyer.

✅ Will I have to pay commission when selling a property with high ground rent?

Potentially, depending on which method you use for trying to find a buyer. When you’re selling via an estate agent or auction then you’ll have to pay commission based on your home’s sale price, but quick buyers and selling on your own don’t have any fees.

✅ Which is the speediest method for trying to sell my home with high ground rent?

You should contact LDN Properties or another legitimate quick property buyer because they will be able to complete the purchase of your home within just a handful of weeks, and that includes the time needed to exchange contracts and pay you the proceeds. But selling through an auctioneer, estate agent or on your own can all take at minimum many months.

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