I looked at buying a new build a couple of years back.
Turned out that it was leasehold. Fair enough. Not my bag, so asked if we could buy the leasehold.

No problem, a mere £500 (which on a £200k house isn't too bad). Thing is, even if we'd bought the leasehold, we could not (and none of this is made up):

o Put the bins out unless it was on the day they were due for collection (not the night before)
o Have more than two visitors cars
o Not have a satellite dish on the front of the house (or other antenna)
o Not paint the garage
o Not paint the masonry
o Lawn must be kept tended (not allowed to pave/slab over)
o Not park anything over a 3.5t outside for more than 15 minutes
o There was something about noise as well, but I forget exactly.
o Want an extension? You'll need permission not just from the council, but from the builders. Yes, they'll be charging you for that, even if you don't get permission.

Oh, and there was a "community charge" of 1% of the purchase price of your house (PA) for upkeep of the green areas.


So, yeah. Enjoy your new £200k house.
(A Nony Mouse, Mon 11 Apr 2011, 14:33, 3 replies)

Two grand a year to keep the lawns looking nice?
Where was this, Kensington Palace Gardens?
( .Yeti. El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Mon 11 Apr 2011, 15:05, closed)

According to the deeds of my c.1840 Edinburgh tenement
I wasn't allowed to store gunpowder or sell spirits. I'm not entirely sure who was going to enforce this but hey...
( splorp ®, Tue 12 Apr 2011, 14:26, closed)

So, a bit like a tenancy agreement then?

( Amorous Badger NAKED BEA ARTHUR PHOTOS 4U, Tue 12 Apr 2011, 14:49, closed)