A family selling a McCarthy and Stone retirement flat with a rip-off lease condition have been saved £25,000 after the case was taken up by LKP.Rita May Bailey, who is now deceased, bought the one-bedroom flat at Bridewell Court, in Widnes, Cheshire in February 2008, which has a registered price of £167,450.Mrs Bailey, a retired teacher had part-exchanged her four-bedroom freehold house for £140,000 as part of the purchase of the McCarthy and Stone flat.The flat was a shared-equity … [Read More...]
THE REASONS WHY …
Latest news
Estate of leasehold campaigner Nigel Wilkins leaves £10,000 to LKP
By Sebastian O’KellyThe estate of Nigel Wilkins, the leasehold activist who died after a brief illness in February 2017 aged 66, has left £10,000 to the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership.LKP sincerely thanks the executors and Nigel’s family for making this donation and we will ensure that it is put to good use.For years Nigel Wilkins ran the Campaign Against Residential Leasehold.In addition, he was a leaseholder in South Kensington and was employed at the Financial Services … [Read More...]
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 ServiceCommons debate, July 11 2019By Sebastian O’KellySome 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 the housing minister.Heather Wheeler would have been aware of a disastrous meeting on April 25 between Wanda Goldwag, the interim chair of the … [Read More...]
Boris Johnson praises campaign for leaseholders who are being ‘cheated’
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, spoke in support of leaseholders at his first prime minister's questions earlier this week.In reply to a question by Sir Peter Bottomley he said that he was fully aware of the "injustices that leaseholders are facing".He congratulated Sir Peter Bottomley for the campaign that he has been running for leaseholders and said that leaseholders were being "cheated".https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mpwzGV-P8U … [Read More...]
Speculators in freeholds knew the risks and can take the hit, suggests Labour shadow City minister Jonathan Reynolds MP
As for £32,000 for painting flats corridors, they could have been painted in “gold” ...Commons debate, July 11 2019Investors in the freeholds of ordinary families’ homes knew the political risks of these speculations, Labour’s shadow City minister Jonathan Reynolds told the Commons.The implication of this is … they can take the consequences as well.Jonathan Reynolds, Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde in Machester, has strong views about the leasehold system which he called … [Read More...]
Reviewer of building regulations admits post-Grenfell safety regime open to abuse by rogue freeholders
By Harry ScoffinThe 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 fears that her plans for a shake-up of building safety regulations have not engaged with the issues around residential … [Read More...]
Every other major economy has moved away from residential leasehold so why not us, asks shadow housing minister Sarah Jones
Commons debate, July 11 2019By Sebastian O’KellyLKP chief executiveThe Labour shadow housing minister Sarah Jones questioned why the government had not made more progress with reforming our predatory leasehold laws.The Communities Select Committee had interviewed 7-800 people, including leaseholders, freeholders, developers, lawyers and trade bodies involved in the sector.Its exhaustive report under chairman Clive Betts MP is a blueprint for reform: and Labour drew on it to … [Read More...]
If government co-operated we could fix the leasehold scandal, says Labour MP Justin Madders
Commons debate, July 11Asking developers like Redrow to put things right is not enough, Justin Madders, the Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, told the Commons: it needs enforcement.And if government co-operated the leasehold scandal could be fixed.Mr Madders cited the example of a Redrow site in the constituency where houses had been sold leasehold - the site where we staged a demonstration two years … [Read More...]
Grenfell cladding
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” […]
Paddington Walk leaseholders have paid £3.5m to remove Grenfell cladding, with more to come …
Leaseholders at Paddington Walk have paid out £3.5 million to remove Grenfell cladding from the site, even though ministers have said leaseholders should not pay. An additional bill of £5.4 million is on the way, according to Inside Housing. The site was built in 2005 by European Land and Property, a joint venture development company […]
Campaign to get government to help fund Grenfell cladding removal
Today sees the launch of a campaign calling on the government to help fund the recladding of the private blocks impacted by ACM cladding led by InsideHousing in support of the UK Cladding Action Group (UKCAG). LKP is proud to help support this campaign along with many other groups and MPs including leasehold and commonhold […]
Grenfell cladding leaseholders form campaign group
A campaign group of leaseholders in private blocks with Grenfell cladding is being formed. It is calling itself the UK Cladding Action Group: UKCAG and can be contacted here: ukcladdingactiongroup@gmail.com LKP welcomes the initiative and will do all that it can to assist. The Guardian reports: “Only 10 of the 173 private buildings discovered with […]
Lendlease caves in over £5m Grenfell cladding bills at Vallea Court and Cypress Place
In yet another retreat by plc house builders, the Aussie giant Lendlease is stumping up to pay to remove the Grenfell cladding at Vallea Court and Cypress Place, in Manchester’s Green Quarter. Before government ministers start talking rubbish about “freeholders doing the decent thing” – or worse, describing these speculators in residential freehold income streams […]
Theresa May also thinks that ‘building owners’ – freeholders – will pay for Grenfell cladding
<span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span>&amp;amp;amp;lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;gt; After Sajid Javid, James Brokenshire and Kit Malthouse … now the prime minister this afternoon insists that “building owners” will pay for Grenfell cladding removal. The Tchenguiz group at Northpoint in Bromley has already […]
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 …
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 […]
Bottomley meets Joseph Gurvits and Israel Moskovitz over leasehold right to manage disputes at Plymouth retirement developments – but residents are determined to fight it out
Sir Peter Bottomley MP (right) held a meeting yesterday at his Westminster offices with the freeholder and managing agent who are locked in right to manage disputes with leaseholders at two Plymouth retirement developments. The meeting was an informal exchange of views between freeholder Israel Moskovitz, property manager Joseph Gurvits and Sebastian O’Kelly and Martin […]
LEASE: Beyond repair?
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 […]
Leasehold Advisory Service has ‘been under review’ for 10 years. Here are the findings …
The Leasehold Advisory Service, the government funded Leasehold Advisory Service, has been under review by the government for much of the last ten years. This seems to suggest that something is wrong, yet the government’s long-standing support for the Leasehold Advisory Service continues. LKP has, after many requests, obtained the two most recent reviews of […]
News archive
Insurance
1.1 Insurance by the landlord How you get scammed on insurance … with tips from LEASE! Usually, your lease will allow your landlord to arrange the insurance of the building (not the contents) and charge you the cost of this as a service charge. This is the normal arrangement for buildings that are divided into […]
Information about your landlord
You are entitled to know the legal entity that owns your freehold and exercises the powers of landlord. But you very likely will be unable to find out who owns this company. E&J Capital Partners, Wallace Estates and the even bigger £1.7 billion Long Harbour funds hide the beneficial ownership of these freeholds, often offshore. […]
Countryside Properties plc shafted buyer by selling his freehold to Tuscola Ltd in the British Virgin Islands, says Liz McInnes MP
Commons debate, July 11 2019 A further catalogue of leasehold sharp practice was provided by Liz McInnes, Labour MP for Heywood and Middleton. She reported a constituent, Jonathan, who bought a house from Countryside Properties using taxpayers’ Help to Buy scheme. Inevitably, it came with £200pa doubling ground rent. Within six months the freehold had […]
Industrial-scale ground rent rip-offs have turned leasehold properties into short-term tenancies, says Maria Eagle
Commons debate, July 11 Maria Eagle, Labour MP for Garston and Halewood, questioned in the Commons whether ground rents are now so onerous the property qualifies as an Assured Short-Tenancy – an ordinary rented property. This issue has been addressed by barrister Rawdon Crozier at various property conferences. The law firm Mischon de Reya, Maria […]
Developers moderating their cheating makes it worse for leaseholders who are trapped, says Fiona Bruce MP
Commons debate, July 11 2019 The haphazard, unscrutinised – and not financially disadvantageous to them – tinkering with ground rents fiddles by developers has made it worse for those trapped by toxic leases. This is the view of Consevative MP Fiona Bruce (Congleton) when she told the Commons: “The fact that buyers are now being […]
Government is hiding behind Law Commission and CMA, says Tory MP Bob Blackman
Commons debate, July 11 2019 Bob Blackman, the Conservative MP for Harrow West, claims the government is prevaricating over leasehold reform. It notes what the Communities Select Committee, of which Mr Blackman is a member, has unearthed but “there has been no commitment to actrion”. “The Government are leaning on the fact that the Law […]
Time to ban Redrow in Liverpool, asks leasehold victim Rosie Cooper MP – who also names stooge solicitors Bannister Preston
Commons debate, July 11 2019 Labour MP Rosie Cooper has asked whether it is time to ban Redrow from developing in Liverpool, after the council banned ground rent game-players Countryside Properties plc from the city. Ms Cooper also named Bannister Preston Solicitors LLP – a firm repeatedly recommended by housebuilders which apparently did not highlight […]
Don’t trust developers to put right the wrongs that they created, Clive Betts tells government
Commons debate, July 11 2019 Government is being too trusting of developers who created the leasehold scandal, according to Clive Betts MP, the Labour Sheffield South East, who chairs the Communities Select Committee. Mr Betts made the remark on July 11 in a Commons debate on the government response to his committee’s devastating report on […]
John Healey blasts the government over lack of support for existing leaseholders as Tory backbench unease grows
By Harry Scoffin In what is likely to be James Brokenshire’s final housing questions, the shadow housing secretary used the Communities Secretary’s “swan song session” yesterday to slam the government for being “too slow, too weak” on the leasehold scandal. While welcoming the ongoing Competition and Markets Authority leasehold inquiry, John Healey also took aim […]
