'My flat was £161,950 in 2007 - now I'm offered just £28,000' When Tony Cross's father was the first buyer at a McCarthy & Stone retirement development in Folkestone, Kent, he thought he was getting a bargain. The sales rep offered him an "early bird" discount, knocking £3,000 off the cost of a one-bed flat, selling it to him for £161,950 in 2007. The Guardian reports the heir to a retirement flat at Laurel Court in Folkestone bought for £161,950 in 2007 considering an offer of £28,000 … [Read More...]
THE REASONS WHY …
Latest news
Can the Tories wriggle out of reforming leasehold? Don’t bet on it …
The Spectator questions the government’s commitment to reform leasehold, after dropping it from the Queen’s Speech. Reforms had been pledged - three times now - but under Boris Johnson, the Conservative leaning magazine sees things slowing down. The article by the authoritative commentator Ross Clark says: “But Boris is believed to be less keen. “According to Sebastian O’Kelly, who runs the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, which has campaigned for leasehold reform … [Read More...]
Ruling blasts Israel Moskovitz’s lawyers for ‘wasting tribunal time’ in legal warfare that is ‘part of a pattern’, as RTM gains control of £69,000 funds
By Harry Scoffin Controversial freeholder Israel Moskovitz and his legal team were reprimanded in the property tribunal last month for failing to hand over £69,633.72 to a right to manage company. Bridge Court South RTM, 24-flats in Leyton, north-east London, won back half the contingency fund from the control of Mr Moskovitz's manager Y and Y Management. The other half is for the separate building Bridge Court North, which also has 24 flats but with commercial premises below. As a … [Read More...]
Citiscape residents allowed back in to retrieve possessions
Leaseholders at Grenfell cladding site Citiscape, in Croydon, have been allowed back into the site today after engineers made safe serious cracks in the building’s structure. This means the residents of the 97 flats, including tenants, have been able to retrieve possessions from their homes three months after they were evacuated. Structural defects were discovered at Citiscape after Barratt stepped in to remove the Grenfell ACM (aluminium composite material) cladding at the site, which it … [Read More...]
Tory trailblazers get Tower Hamlets to come out for commonhold in London first
By Harry Scoffin Campaigners calling for commonhold homeownership received a boost last night as Tower Hamlets voted against landlord-controlled leaseholds. The motion put forward by Tower Hamlets’ two Tory councillors, and amended by the dominant Labour party, passed unanimously. It makes the local authority the first London borough to formally acknowledge the controversies surrounding the spread of leasehold tenure. In 2018, both of Tower Hamlets’ parliamentary constituencies … [Read More...]
FPRA annual conference: Labour has a clear leasehold reform agenda, but why are the Tories wobbly?
Sebastian O’Kelly, director of LKP, was the guest speaker last night at the AGM of the Federation of Private Residents’ Associations. The below is his speech: This is the second invitation I have had today. Not such an agreeable one as addressing a gathering of the FPRA, I hasten to add. It was a former colleague on the Spectator inviting me to comment on whether I thought Boris Johnson would “rat us out” as he put it on reforming leasehold if he returned as PM after the … [Read More...]
Law Commission enfranchisement valuation models delayed for second time as election ‘purdah’ rules kick in
By Harry Scoffin The snap general election has set back proposals to slash the costs of buying a freehold. In a tweet, the Law Commission said on Tuesday that it has been forced to postpone the release of its report on valuation in enfranchisement “as a result of restrictions on the Commission’s activities during the pre-election period”. According to the Institute for Government, ‘purdah’ rules mean that arm’s-length bodies “should not compete with the election campaign” with big … [Read More...]
Reform laws on track for ‘second half of 2020’, Martin Boyd tells Property Week
By Harry Scoffin LKP chair Martin Boyd has sought to quash fears that leasehold reform is in limbo. Speaking to Property Week for a feature on managing agents and service charges, Mr Boyd suggested that a raft of measures to improve the leasehold and commonhold markets are likely to be brought before parliament within the next year. The paywalled article references the Lord Best report, which recommended government places all property agents under the purview of a regulator ‘with teeth’ … [Read More...]
Grenfell cladding
Grenfell cladding scandal: Have 600,000 ‘mortgage prisoners’ destroyed the leasehold system?
Comment By Sebastian O’Kelly It is now thought that between 300,000 to 500,000 flats are covered in various forms of combustible cladding. This may affect the lives of more than 600,000 people. It is going to cost billions to remove this material. These figures dwarf the sums involved in the onerous ground rent scandal. They […]
Post-Grenfell: The sheer lunacy of doling out state aid to residential freehold speculators
COMMENT This week sees the publication of the first Grenfell Inquiry Report. It will inevitably be a harrowing document to read. The impact of that disaster rolls on both for those who survived the experience, and for tens of thousands of others who still live in blocks that have various forms of cladding. This issue […]
What to do about the Grenfell cladding scandal, asks Oxford conference
Victoria, one of Australia’s eight states/ territories, has put aside £330m to remediate Grenfell cladding: England has come up with £200m By Sebastian O’Kelly Mansfield College, Oxford, hosted a fascinating one-day conference yesterday into the Grenfell tragedy and its devastating repercussions to flat owners in blocks with similar cladding across the world. Lawyers predominated, but […]
Barratt evacuates Grenfell cladding site Citiscape
Barratt has insisted on the evacuation of the Citiscape tower block which has Grenfell cladding. It is understood that engineers for the developer have found flaws in structural piers at site, and that residents are being rehoused immediately. It is anticipated that most residents in the 100 flats will only be evacuated for a few […]
Reviewer of building regulations admits post-Grenfell safety regime open to abuse by rogue freeholders
By Harry Scoffin The former health and safety commissioner tasked to investigate building standards following the Grenfell Tower fire has criticised government for allowing it “to take so long” to agree her blueprint for maintaining the integrity of high-rise residential blocks. In comments to the Communities Select Committee on Monday, Dame Judith Hackitt also raised […]
Cladding crisis reveals why freeholders are an impediment to any solution
The disaster of flammable cladding on blocks of flats and what to do about it is providing the biggest push to transform leasehold law since the eruption of the doubling ground rent scandal which we exposed in 2016. The question being asked is: what is the third-party freehold owning landlord actually for? For ground rent […]
Leaseholders to sue government over fire safety measures
But housing minister says further funding must come from the building owners. (Hasn’t that been tried before?) By Harry Scoffin The Guardian reports that leaseholders across 12 sites in Manchester are preparing to take the government to court over their policy towards fire safety problems with privately-owned tower blocks. Although government has recently pledged £200m […]
Barking fire site is owned by anonymous investors in Adriatic Land
And what the balconies were like before the fire: LKP has been informed that the headlease owner of De Pass Gardens on Barking Riverside, which witnessed a serious fire today, is Adriatic Land 4. These companies are part of the £1.6 billion ground rent fund Long Harbour. The ultimate beneficial ownership of these freeholds / […]
New Capital Quay leaseholders to sue Galliard over Grenfell cladding
This is the first site in England to begin legal action against its landlord and developer The action taken by the leaseholders is against Galliard Homes Ltd and the site’s landord Roamquest Ltd a firm owned in Galliard Holdings Ltd and NCQ Development Ltd which in turn is owned by Galliard Homes Ltd The leaseholders […]
Brokenshire announces £200m Grenfell cladding removal fund – hours after APPG meeting of leaseholders
UPDATING … A £200 million fund to remove Grenfell cladding from private blocks was announced this morning by Communities Secretary James Brokenshire on the BBCR4 Today programme. It can be heard at 07.10 here This action has been long predicted by LKP, believing that ministers’ appeals to freeholders and developers to “do the decent thing” […]
The games they play
Martin Paine sells on Blythe Court, where ground rents reach £8,000 a year
Martin Paine and his wife Anne Kirmond have spent years as landlord causing distress to the leaseholds at Blythe Court and many other sites. LKP first broke the story of the Panie’s ground rent exploits in January 2016 despite warning letters from solicitors Taylor Emmet LLP. https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/martin-paine Since this story, we have covered the activities […]
Martin Paine resigns from IRPM after leaseholder complaint
Following a complaint to the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM) Martin Paine has chosen to resign his position as a member rather than face investigation. On several occasions in the last 18 months this site has reported on the exploits of Martin Paine, his FCA regulated wife, Ann Kirmond (Ref no MAK01110), and their […]
‘If I fail to offend anyone, I will do it next time,’ Bottomley tells appalled LEASE annual conference
Leasehold sector insiders were aghast at the address given by Sir Peter Bottomley on Wednesday at the Leasehold Advisory Service “annual conference”. The event was packed with surveyors, valuers, lawyers and property managing agents paying £350 a head to attend what has until now been the most important trade show of the sector. Earlier housing […]
Commons leasehold debate. December 20 2016
The Commons debate on leasehold reform took place after the intervention of LKP patrons Jim Fitzpatrick and Sir Peter Bottomley. The debate can be seen here: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/fc53bd87-8abf-4986-b7ce-6a7a488b8cfc The debate can be read here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2016-12-20/debates/4F15110B-F6D5-4FA1-9154-536BD848130E/LeaseholdAndCommonholdReform The catalyst was the scandal of Taylor Wimpey selling homes between 2007-2011 with doubling ground rents and then selling the freeholds […]
Martin Paine ‘is a crook who is turning sleaze in leases into an art form’, MPs told
Sir Peter Bottomley (Conservative, Worthing West) named the leasehold-gameplayer Martin Paine as a “crook” in the Commons yesterday. “We should not have to rely on the chance action of a campaigning charity such as LKP [the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership] or the Campaign Against Retirement Leasehold Exploitation—or a passing Member of Parliament, to get things put […]
Long term custodians …
Moskovitz forfeits £400k Camden flat from 24-year-old woman ‘whose brother did not forward correspondence for two years’
London freeholder Israel Moskovitz has forfeited the London flat of a Canadian woman who declined to pay service charges and whose brother did not forward correspondence for two years. Chloe Shum, now 24, was indignant about a water leak in the property and had returned to Canada owing service charges. Meanwhile, her brother, a student […]
Right to manage woes at Elim and Regent Courts retirement sites
Oliver Colvile MP raised the issues of right to manage and insurance claims at two retirement sites in Plymouth: Elim Court and Regent Court, whose freeholds were acquired by London freeholders at auction. The issues have been reported on many occasions on LKP /Campaign against Retirement Leasehold Exploitation: Elim Court and right to manage and […]
ARMA tells Y and Y Management to mind its manners and control its temper
ARMA’s regulatory panel announced on Friday June 27 that it had admonished Y and Y Management following a complaint over “intemperate and unprofessional language” to a leaseholder who visited its north London offices. A letter of admonishment has been sent to the company, headed by Joseph Gurvits, whose business partner is freeholder Israel Moskovitz. Both have […]
MPs call for all-party group on leasehold, and to stop right to manage being thwarted
The Westminster meeting on Tuesday March 11 on right to manage organized by Leasehold Knowledge Partnership / Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation saw an all-party group on leasehold becoming more likely. The move would certainly be backed by Sir Peter Bottomley, Conservative Swindon MPs Justin Tomlinson and Robert Buckland, as well as Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour […]
Devon pensioners humiliate Y and Y Management and Avon Freeholds at tribunal
… and Y and Y Management ‘broke the ARHM code’ (except it is actually a member of ARMA) London-based freeholder Israel Moskovitz and his business partner Joseph Gurvits, of Y and Y Management, must rue the day they snapped up at auction the freeholds of retirement sites in Devon. After a two-year legal marathon – […]
Israel Moskovitz ‘unappealing conduct’ reported in The Oldie
The monthly Oldie magazine has reported the failure of freeholder Israel Moskovitz to frustrate the right to manage application of the residents at Regent Court retirement site in Plymouth. Regent Court won right to manage in February 2012, but has been locked in legal wrangling for another 20 months after Moskovitz repeatedly attempted to appeal […]
Freeholder’s barrister Justin Bates named in Parliament yesterday. And Benjamin Mire. And Tchenguiz. And Yianis. And Israel Moskovitz …
… Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick and Sir Peter Bottomley put the boot in to leasehold profiteers! Two senior MPs from opposite political parties yesterday delivered hard-hitting speeches in Parliament that highlighted the scandals in leasehold. And in a sign of the rising political temperature concerning these issues, neither hesitated to name names. Jim Fitzpatrick, the […]
Israel Moskovitz fails – again – to appeal against the Regent Court right to manage
An attempt by freeholder Israel Moskovitz to appeal against the granting of right to manage to Regent Court has been turned down by the Court of Appeal. Israel Moskovitz, who owns Avon Freeholds, applied for leave to appeal to the superior court after his appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) failed in August. Regent […]
‘Don’t make the pensioners of Regent Court take you to court AGAIN, Mr Moskovitz,’ urges Bottomley
The pensioners of Regent Court, in Plymouth, face the prospect of another encounter in court with their freeholder Israel Moskovitz after being presented with a £140,000 bill to pay for a new roof. The roof was damaged by storms in April 2012, but insurers AXA claim the condition of the roof would have voided the […]
Tory MP backs pensioners in leasehold right to manage dispute
Tory MP Oliver Colvile (right) yesterday pledged his support to the two leasehold retirement developments in Plymouth that are locked in leasehold right to manage disputes with their freeholder. At two packed meetings at Elim Court and Regent Court in his Sutton and Devonport constituency, Colvile told the residents that he would support them in […]
LEASE: Beyond repair?
Wanda Goldwag: You owe an apology. You know it. And it is overdue
Bottomley and Fitzpatrick defend LKP in Commons and insist on co-operation with Leasehold Advisory Service Commons debate, July 11 2019 By Sebastian O’Kelly Some of the contributions to the Commons leasehold debate on July 11 of both Sir Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick would have been lost on almost everyone in the chamber, but not […]
Government’s slightly wobbly response to the excellent report of the Communities Select Committee
By Sebastian O’Kelly The government’s engagement with leasehold abuses is revealed in a lurching, one-step-forward and one-step-back reaction to the Communities Select Committee’s excellent critique of the sector, published today. There are some good things, such as “unfair practices in the leasehold market that can turn people’s home ownership dreams into a nightmare”. That’s true […]
London mayor Sadiq Khan launches leasehold advice portal and slams LEASE as ‘unfit for purpose’
London mayor Sadiq Khan has launched a new leasehold advice portal, and has condemned the taxpayer-funded Leasehold Advisory Service as “unfit for purpose”. He also backed “wholesale reform of leasehold, including a long-term shift toward alternative tenures such as commonhold”. Today’s statement from the mayor’s office reads: “Government funds the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) – […]
New LEASE chair declines to endorse peppercorn ground rents on BBC
And there will be no leaseholders on the board of LEASE The new chair of the controversial quango the Leasehold Advisory Service declined an invitation to endorse no-monetary value ground rents on BBC R4’s You and Yours today. Instead, Wanda Goldwag said only that contracts should be “fair”. Former Communities Secretary Sajid Javid undertook to […]
New interim chair for troubled quango LEASE
Wanda Goldwag, a former marketing executive for British Airways, has been appointed interim chair of the controversial Leasehold Advisory Service. Ms Goldwag, who ran BA’s Air Miles, is chair of the Office for Legal Complaints, which controls the legal ombudsman service for England and Wales. Four trustees of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership have been declined […]
News archive
Shared ‘ownership’ is NOT ownership. It’s the ‘pay-day loan’ of housing and most regret having bought, London Assembly told
By Sebastian O’Kelly Shared “ownership” leaseholders gave devastating testimony to the London Assembly last night, with the overwhelming majority – in a show of hands – deeply regretting their decision to enter the scheme. One of the 30-odd participants at the event described shared ownership as the “pay day loan of housing”, which is being […]
Jenrick questioned over cladding help inconsistencies by BOTH Conservative and Labour MPs
By Harry Scoffin While leaseholders with Grenfell ACM (aluminium composite material) are in line for a £200 million handout from taxpayers, those with other forms of combustible cladding – now estimated at 500,000 flats, “come together and raise sufficient funds”, the Communities Select Committee was told on Monday. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick claimed that “banks […]
‘Sympathetic’ Esther McVey urged to introduce zero ground rents immediately
Yesterday LKP and the APPG met Housing Minister Esther McVey and leasehold officials where she was urged to introduce new zero ground rents and not wait for further leasehold reforms. This was a change of shift for LKP, which feels that simple law setting new ground rents to zero would transform the leasehold sector: it […]
APPG meets for last time this Parliament, with sadness as Jim Fitzpatrick stands down
Just as it was announced this morning that the Labour Party would vote for a December election, the annual general meeting of the APPG on leasehold and commonhold reform began. Jim Fitzpatrick, the APPG co-chair, was delayed in the chamber – although he attended the meeting with the Financial Conduct Authority on leasehold insurance commissions […]
London mayor promises ‘pragmatic’ solution for leaseholders struggling to hit 100% Soviet-style threshold for cladding money
By Harry Scoffin The mayor of London spoke up for the capital’s leaseholders last week with an intervention on the cladding scandal. The London assembly member Andrew Dismore urged Sadiq Khan to pressure central government to show some flexibility over the rules for its ACM cladding fund. Mr Dismore criticised the requirement that leaseholders in […]
Louie Burns: 10 things the government needs to do now!
Louie Burns, a trustee of LKP and managing director of Leasehold Solutions, gives his forthright views on what the government should be doing to reform the leasehold sector. Point 7 should be noted by lawmakers: leaseholders with ground rents above £250 outside London and £1,000 within London can have their property taken back with no […]
Daily Mail says 1.3 million homes trapped in ‘fleecehold’ scandal
The Daily Mail claims today that up to 1.3 million homeowners could be trapped in freehold contracts that tie them to rising and unregulated fees. Many new-build estate residents who already pay council tax are being charged uncapped ‘management fees’ if their local authority does not take on the upkeep of the area. LKP says […]
Mike Amesbury MP gets Boris Johnson to commit to zero ground rents, except …
… where there are ‘exceptional circumstances’ (that would be retirement properties, so far, unless lobbyists squirrel in something else …) Labour’s Mike Amesbury used prime minister’s questions today to press Boris Johnson to bring an end to the leasehold scandal. The MP for Weaver Vale in Cheshire highlighted that despite endless consultations and promises of […]
Notice: October 29 2019, AGM of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold reform
The co-chairs Sir Peter Bottomley, Jim Fitzpatrick and Sir Edward Davey welcome all MPs to join the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Leasehold and Commonhold reform for its AGM Date: Tuesday 29th October, Time: 11:15am, Venue: room N, Portcullis House Please contact Katherine O’ Riordan: katherine.oriordan@parliament.uk This invitation is a formal notification by the secretariat of […]
