January 1 2017
Taylor Wimpey will stop selling leasehold houses nationwide after LKP exposes scandal of leasehold houses with doubling ground rents.
Taylor Wimpey abandons the leasehold houses racket from January 1
January 6
First-time buyer Clair Scott pulls out of BBC radio interview with Sebastian O’Kelly after defamation threat from her conveyancing solicitors, Bannister Preston. Three leaseholders are threatened with libel proceedings in 2017. We intervened with MPs to defuse all of them.
Shaken ground rent whistleblower pulls out of BBC radio interview after lawyer’s letter
January 14
Sebastian O’Kelly tells ITN News at Ten that 45,000 leasehold houses have been sold in the last five years, and that £300-500 million of new home freeholds are sold every year by plc housebuilders.
January 16
Viscount Astor, whose son William Waldorf Astor manages £1.6 billion Long Harbour ground rent fund, attends the All Party Parliamentary Group meeting on leasehold reform at Westminster. Concerns for ripped off families, or an investor in residential freeholds, asks LKP.
January 17
Small scale Beech Developments sets off customer mutiny in Wales with grasping ground rents
Beech Developments sets off customer mutiny in Wales with grasping ground rents
January 18
Consumers fight back: Buyer pulls out of Persimmon £219,995 leasehold house purchase. One of an increasing number of failed sales as the scandal spreads.
Buyer pulls out of Persimmon £219,995 leasehold house purchase
January 18
Bellway originally offered freehold for sale for £3,750, but now ground rent speculator Adriatic Land – part of William Waldorf Astor’s Long Harbour group – wants £12,750
January 31
Sebastian O’Kelly in Sunday Times Home section tells reader not to buy leasehold houses.
LKP tells Sunday Times reader not to buy leasehold house (and there is no excuse for them)
February 2
Housing minister Gavin Barwell (now chief of staff at Number 10) says ‘No excuse for leasehold houses or punitive ground rents and we will stamp them out’
Gavin Barwell: ‘No excuse for leasehold houses or punitive ground rents and we will stamp them out’
February 2
Housing minister Gavin Barwell tells controversial taxpayer-funded quango the Leasehold Advisory Service to ‘be solely, and unapologetically, on the side of leaseholders’.
Housing minister says LEASE must be on the side of leaseholders, and promises more money
February 2
Sir Peter Bottomley, patron of LKP, tells appalled conference of Leasehold Advisory Service, filled with leasehold sector lawyers, surveyors and property managers: ‘If I fail to offend anyone, I will do it next time.’
February 6
The Sunday Times reports LKP view that affluent London leaseholders are just as likely to be kicked around in the leasehold system as poor ones.
February 8
Sebastian O’Kelly tells BBC1 Victoria Derbyshire Show ‘we must end cheating speculators in leasehold housing’.
Victoria Derbyshire told ‘we must end cheating speculators in leasehold housing’
February 13
Roger Southam, chairman of Leasehold Advisory Service, advised freeholders on how to “maximise ground rent opportunities”, by DCLG rejects LKP’s complaint.
February 13
Sebastian O’Kelly tells BBC R4 You and Yours that Taylor Wimpey would have to “offer the freeholds at an appropriate low price to these homeowners who were misled into buying these leasehold properties under frankly scandalous terms”.
February 14
Sebastian O’Kelly’s application to board vacancies at the Leasehold Advisory Service is rejected. Sir Peter Bottomley asks the Communities Secretary for an explanation.
February 15
The Chartered Institution of Housing describes doubling ground rent and leasehold houses as “legalised extortion”.
Leasehold rip-offs are ‘legalised extortion’ by housebuilders, says Chartered Institute of Building
February 17
Bellway sells Baltic Avenue freehold to Adriatic Land 6 as leaseholders mobilise
Bellway sells Baltic Avenue freehold to Adriatic Land 6 as leaseholders mobilise
February 20
LKP reports Persimmon leasehold house owner’s letter: Dear Jeffrey Fairburn … Can I buy the freehold to my Persimmon house before you sell it to anonymous investors, please?
February 20
Homebuyer calls for Persimmon boycott, and Conservative MP Andrew Selous agrees with him.
Homebuyer calls for Persimmon boycott, and local MP Andrew Selous agrees with him!
February 24
Self-employed, first-time buyer is not allowed to park his van outside his Persimmon leasehold house: commercial vehicles in drives are banned under the lease.
No van man here: Persimmon bans first-time buyer from parking his van at his leasehold house
February 25
Linden Homes (Galliford Try) calls in libel lawyers to deal with angry leasehold house purchaser speaking on BBC Breakfast. LKP calms the issue down.
Linden Homes calls in libel lawyers to silence customer who spoke to BBC
February 26
Taylor Wimpey won’t help any buyer of its toxic doubling ground rent properties if it is a re-sale property not bought directly from the developer.
Taylor Wimpey rejects responsibility to resale buyers facing doubling ground rents
March 1
Prime Minister Theresa May tells the Commons: “I do not see why houses should be sold leasehold.”
‘I don’t see why houses are sold leasehold,’ says prime minister. Is this the final nail?
March 6
Devastating public letter to Taylor Wimpey CEO: “Dear Pete Redfern (again) … Opaque leases, dubious ‘independent’ legal advice, no contact from Taylor Wimpey during its ‘review’, normal industry practice to stuff clients with leasehold houses (especially in North West)”
March 8
Private Eye on the Leasehold Advisory Service chairman.
March 10
William Waldorf Astor admits to LKP that freeholds in the £1.6 billion Long Harbour fund are owned offshore.
Some of our freehold clients are offshore, admits Will Astor’s HomeGround
March 10
Bellway says leasehold houses have modest ground rents and are “virtually freehold”. LKP complains to Advertising Standards Authority.
March 13
Sebastian O’Kelly tells The Daily Telegraph a “ground rent strike is a very real possibility”.
Ground rent strike ‘a very real possibility,’ reports Daily Telegraph
March 20
Leaseholders demonstrate outside Redrow’s Ledsham Garden Village site in Cheshire, where houses are being sold leasehold. Justin Madders MP and Sebastian O’Kelly, of LKP, join them.
March 20
Sir Peter Bottomley tells BBC R4 You & Yours that government needs to clear out sector stooges from the Leasehold Advisory Service. Stop barring LKP trustees Sebastian O’Kelly and Martin Boyd from joining the board and to bring bring justice quickly to leasehold house owners.
March 22
Bellway warns backlash over leasehold houses may eat into profits.
Bellway fears backlash over leasehold houses may eat into profits
March 28
Leasehold houses expose ‘gulf between the letter and the spirit of the law’, says Communities Secretary Said Javid.
Leasehold houses expose ‘gulf between the letter and the spirit of the law’, say ministers
April 3
Daily Mail reveals William Waldorf Astor links to “leasehold rip-offs”. And says leasehold houses should be “outlawed”.
Daily Mail ‘reveals’ Will Astor’s ‘links to leasehold rip-offs’
April 8
“David Cameron’s brother-in-law Will Astor and the toxic leasehold scandal,” says Daily Mail
‘Cameron’s brother-in-law Will Astor and the toxic leasehold scandal’, Daily Mail
April 8
The Sun demands end to “ground rent rip-offs”
April 10
Sebastian O’Kelly tells BBC R4 Today programme: “These onerous ground rents are a new development. This is a case of murky and anonymous investors, often based offshore, hitching a ride at homeowners’ expense through owning the freehold.
BBC R4 Today programme hears of ‘venal, greedy housebuilders’ playing the angles of leasehold
April 11
FirstPort, the country’s largest property manager, fined £360,000 over fatal fire at Gibson Court
April 12
LKP moves motion of no confidence in Roger Southam, as chair of the Leasehold Advisory Service, at the DCLG leasehold stakeholders meeting.
April 13
Roger Southam, chairman, tells BBC R4 You & Yours says it was not the job of the Leasehold Advisory Service to warn ministers of leasehold houses scandal
Not the job of LEASE to warn ministers of leasehold houses scandal, Roger Southam tells BBC
April 21
71% of leasehold house buyers used developer recommended solicitors, LKP research reveals.
https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/71-leasehold-house-buyers-used-developer-recommended-solicitors
April 21
Conservative MP Andrew Selous says leasehold houses are the “spivvy idea of a financial director to make more money on wet Thursday afternoon”. https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/leasehold-houses-spivvy-idea-financial-director-make-money-wet-thursday-afternoon-says-mp
April 22
Daily Mail reports LKP estimate that solicitors recommended by developers could face £500m professional negligence bill, https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/developer-recommended-solicitors-face-500m-bill-says-daily-mail
April 21
Sebastian O’Kelly tells BBC R4 You & Yours plc housebuilders’ ground rents were “the sort of ground rent terms that you’d expect the worst kind of property spivs to dream up after having bought a freehold at an auction.
April 26
Sir Peter Bottomley urges Commons to condemn developers selling leasehold houses with onerous ground rents. And names Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Bellway and Adriatic Land.
April 27
Taylor Wimpey to pay £130 million to solve doubling ground rent scandal
Taylor Wimpey to pay £130 million to solve doubling ground rent scandal
May 4
Nationwide bans mortgages on doubling ground rents and ground rents that are more than 0.1 per cent of the property’s value.
Nationwide bans mortgages on doubling ground rent properties
May 5
Time to ‘get political about leasehold’, says the Financial Times.
Time to ‘get political about leasehold’, says the Financial Times
May 5
Police may need to investigate ground rent scandal, Sir Peter Bottomley tells Daily Mail
Police may need to investigate ground rent scandal, says Bottomley
May 8
LKP says Taylor Wimpey £130 million review scheme is PR fluff and not good enough.
Taylor Wimpey: Secretive £130m ‘compo’ is PR fluff and not good enough
May 12
BBC1 Rip-off Britain reports conveyancing solicitors recommended by developers made “errors” over ground rents. https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/bannister-preston-cohen-filippini-solicitors-errors-taylor-wimpey-ground-rents-says-bbc
May 15
Persimmon bans vans in house leases, so protest van with slogans warning of leasehold rip-offs is parked outside its sales suite.
Vans are banned in Persimmon leases, so here is one outside your sales suite!
May 16
Jeffrey Fairburn, Persimmon CEO, drops the term ‘virtual freehold’ when selling leasehold houses after pressure from LKP.
Jeffrey Fairburn, Persimmon CEO, drops ‘virtual freehold’ when selling leasehold
May 19
Countryside Properties plc is still selling London flats at The Mount, Mill Hill, with £300pa doubling ground rents
May 29
Bellway Homes attempts to explain why leasehold houses are just fine. And it is self-interested rubbish … https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/bellway-homes
June 8
Doubling ground rents owned by John Lewis Partnership Pension Trust … and managed by Vincent Tchenguiz https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/doubling-ground-rents-owned-john-lewis-partnership-pension-trust-managed-tchenguiz
June 30
Another public protest of leaseholders in Manchester outside the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Housing, which was to be addressed by new housing minister Alok Sharma.
July 20
Englishman’s home isn’t a castle: it’s a revenue stream for an offshore company thanks to national housebuilders, Justin Madders tells the Commons
https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/englishmans-home-isnt-castle-revenue-stream-offshore-company-thanks-national-housebuilders-justin-madders-tells-commons
June 26
Taylor Wimpey gets round ‘right of first refusal’ to buy freehold by selling the block BEFORE more than half flats are sold
https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/taylor-wimpey-gets-round-right-first-refusal-buy-freehold-selling-block-half-flats-sold
June 30 Buyers walk away from toxic Persimmon leasehold house
July 4
Marie Rimmer MP: how can a modest Taylor Wimpey leasehold house in St Helens pay out £185,850 to freehold investors over 60 years
July 17
Adriatic Land and other freeholders ‘acting like robbers’, Commons told
Adriatic Land and other freeholders ‘acting like robbers’, Commons told
July 20
I had to spend £14,000 to change double ground rent to RPI at Ausden Place. But will I get compo from Taylor Wimpey
July 20
Englishman’s home isn’t a castle: it’s a revenue stream for an offshore company thanks to national housebuilders, Justin Madders MP tells the Commons https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/englishmans-home-isnt-castle-revenue-stream-offshore-company-thanks-national-housebuilders-justin-madders-tells-commons
July 26
Media storm after Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announces review to ban leasehold houses and set ground rents to zero. LKP interviewed in all media.
July 30
Sebastian O’Kelly writes in Sunday Times how flats can be built and sold commonhold and cites Spire View, in Pickering, North Yorkshire: https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/spire-view-pickering-shows-commonhold-future-no-leases-says-sunday-times
August 2
Taylor Wimpey profits slump 24 per cent, according to the Times
‘Fright night’ for Taylor Wimpey as profits fall 24% over leasehold scandal, says Times
August 4
Pensioners face 88 per cent rise in ground rents
Pensioners hammered with 88% rise in ground rents, says Better Retirement Housing
August 4
Neo Bankside leaseholders offered freehold for £4.8 million, but have only eight weeks to agree the deal
Neo Bankside leaseholders offered freehold for £4.8m, but have eight weeks to agree deal
August 4
Pensioners face 88 per cent rise in ground rents, says LKP
Pensioners hammered with 88% rise in ground rents, says Better Retirement Housing
August 5
The Sun attacks ‘fatcat’ leasehold game players:
The Sun attacks ‘fatcat’ housebuilders with inflated fortunes thanks to Help To Buy
August 7
Countryside Properties plc buys back freeholds from speculators
Countryside Properties plc cracks over ground rents scandal …
August 7
Another surrender: ground rent fund E & J Capital Partners says it will vary doubling ground rents to RPI on some sites
E&J Capital Partners in full retreat over rapacious ground rent terms
August 8
Persimmon backtracks, now selling houses at Harrow View West freehold. But leasehold house buyers demand right to buy their freeholds https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/furious-persimmon-leasehold-house-owners-harrow-view-west-demand-freeholds
August 24
Leasehold needs to stop being a means to produce ‘ever-increasing profits’, says Conveyancing Association https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/leasehold-needs-stop-means-produce-ever-increasing-profits-says-conveyancing-association
August 25
After months of discussion with LKP, National Trust leaseholders in uproar over ground rents and get the Times front page. https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/national-trust-leaseholders-uproar-modern-ground-rents
August 25
One in four home buyers avoid new builds owing to ground rent scandals and shoddy build quality
August 31
Ex-minister Sally Keeble, the regulator of the Association of Residential Managing Agents, quits after being blocked from ruling on a lift shaft fatality. She writes article for LKP saying self-regulation of managing agents in leasehold is impossible
ARMA’s self-regulation in disarray after member sues the organisation and Sally Keeble resigns
September 8
McCarthy and Stone says ground rents are essential to its business model and viability of its schemes. But it is selling its freeholds to anonymous speculators.
McCarthy and Stone says ground rents essential, but why sell freeholds to murky Adriatic Land?
September 9
LKP reports dismal low leasehold retirement re-sale values. Reported on BBC R4 MoneyBox and BBC R$ Your and Yours
BetterRetirementHousing.com reports retirement resale disasters. On BBCR4 MoneyBox today
September 8
The £114 million Ground Rents Income Fund plc, which has lost £6 to £10 million since January, offers to vary double ground rents to RPI
September 13
Taylor Wimpey and £1.6 billion ground rent fund Long Harbour are to vary leases with doubling ground rent to those linked with RPI. https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/taylor-wimpey-long-harbour-deal-defuse-toxic-lease-scandal
September 21
Ground rent speculator in leasehold homes laments losses in FT
LKP tells BBC that property managers can’t regulate themselves. It needs government
September 28
Pensioner Trevor Nowell, 79, paid £42,000 for his Taylor Wimpey freehold, which after LKP exposed the scandal he could now get for a quarter of that price.
Pensioner paid £38,000 for Taylor Wimpey freehold to ground rent speculators E&J Capital Partners
October 11
Leaseholders demonstrate at First-Time Buyer Show about rip-off charges
Demo at First-Time Buyers show warns of developers’ leasehold rip-offs
October 16
John Lewis Partnership Pension Trust tells leaseholder it will ‘disinvest’ in doubling ground rents
John Lewis Partnership Pensions Trust tells leaseholder it will ‘disinvest’ in doubling ground rents
October 18
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid tells ARMA leasehold property managers are not good enough
Sajid Javid has thought about leasehold property management and does not like what he sees …
October 18
LKP tells BBC that property managers can’t regulate themselves. It needs government
LKP tells BBC that property managers can’t regulate themselves. It needs government
November 9
Vincent Tchenguiz employed Israeli ‘military intelligence’ operators Black Cube who ‘were employed by Harvey Weinstein over sex accusations’. https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/tchenguizs-israeli-military-intelligence-operators-black-cube-employed-harvey-weinstein-sex-accusations
November 20
Legal and General spares 334 leasehold flat owners at Blenheim Centre £10 million bill to remove Grenfell cladding from the site after LKP takes up the case.
December 21
Communities Secretary Said Javid to ban leasehold houses and future ground rents are to be set to zero. The lucrative lease extension and enfranchisement process is referred to the Law Commission, which is also to consider commonhold as an alternative residential tenure for flats and leasehold houses in England and Wales. The leasehold team at the DCLG is increased fourfold, and primary legislation will be drafted by the summer of 2018.
Leasehold houses to be banned and future ground rents set to zero, announces Sajid Javid
Related posts:
CMA forces Countryside Properties plc to strike out doubling ground rents: it was selling them as late as May 2017!
Adriatic Land now wants £54,000 for my freehold that Taylor Wimpey said would cost £6,000
Buyer pulls out of Persimmon £219,995 leasehold house purchase
Taylor Wimpey CEO to meet MPs over ‘cancer’ of doubling ground rents (which were deterring astute buyers in 2007!)
71% of leasehold house buyers used developer recommended solicitors
Housebuilders ground rent scandal compo schemes ‘must go further and faster’, says housing minister
