Leasehold Properties

[Annied]

Can anyone tell me more about the reality of German leasehold properties please? I've just seen a little flat advertised that, potentially, could suit my needs very well, but it's leasehold (erbbaurecht) and the lease only has 56 years left to run. Before I reject it out of hand on the basis that I'd never consider buying a property with such a short lease in the UK, is there anyone here who has experience of German leaseholds. For example,

Is it possible to extend leases or even buy them?

Is the ground rent fixed for the duration of the lease or can it increase each year?

Is there anything else about a German lease that I should be aware of?

I've never come across a German leasehold property in my numerous searches so I'm not sure if they're straightforward or better avoided.

Thanks

 

[kap-C]

Hi Annied - I am not an expert on Erbbaurecht, but would find this rather uncommon in respect of residential property. I don't know what your plans are for the property, but I am pretty certain that you would find it quite difficult to resell the leasehold property if you should ever decide to sell it.

Unless, such a property is exactly what I am looking for, I would probably prefer to go for the good old freehold property that will be mine forever ;-)