… it is buying back freeholds from investors
… E&J Estates says it won’t buy more freeholds to leasehold houses
… Oh, and it ‘fully supports’ the government’s consultation over the scandal
UPDATE: It seems the deal only applies to 4-5 sites where E&J Capital Partners are the freeholders AND where ground rents double every ten years only.
Those Countryside Properties plc sites where ground rents double every 15 years appear to be excluded from the deal. So a question mark hangs over The Mount, Mill Hill, in north London, for example.
Also, the deals have not been done with Adriatic Land, which would affect Silver Point, in Edmonton, north London, where the freeholder is Adriatic Land.
LKP has asked Ian Sutcliffe, CEO of Countryside Properties plc, for a statement and explanation.
Ditto Pete Redfern, CEO of Taylor Wimpey, regarding its inadequate ground rent review scheme.
Ditto London Harbour / Adriatic Land for an explanation of its policy.
Joey Gardiner of Building.co.uk gets Countryside CEO to explain the company’s policy
Countryside becomes second major to shell out in housebuilding’s leasehold scandal
Chief executive says buying back freeholds on onerous leaseholds ‘is the right thing to do’ Housebuilder Countryside Properties has become the second major housebuilder to come up with a rescue package for those customers it sold leasehold homes with onerous ground rents.
Countryside Properties plc, which is up to its neck in selling leasehold houses and flats with doubling ground rents, has cracked.
A letter dated August 4 from E&J Estates tells leaseholders that it has sold the freehold to their leasehold house back to the developers.
“It is our understanding that Countryside will be in touch with you very shortly,” it says.
The statement from E&J, part of E&J Capital Partners based in Winchester, says:
“We are writing to your with regard to the recent media coverage of the industry wide practice of selling properties on a leasehold basis and the subsequent concerns that have been raised on leases with 10-year doubling ground rent clauses.
“For ourselves we have resolved not to purchase any further leasehold houses and we fully support the Government’s leasehold reform consultation.”
Related posts:
Countryside Properties plc deal to buy back freeholds turns spotlight on Taylor Wimpey, BBC told
Guardian reports ‘breakthrough’ deal from Countryside … Pressure on Taylor Wimpey also to offer freeholds
Countryside Properties is selling London flats at The Mount, Mill Hill, with £300pa doubling ground rents
Countryside Properties plc and Long Harbour to offer deal to end ground rent scam at Silver Point
BBC R4 You and Yours now turns to Countryside’s doubling ground rents
Leasehold sector insiders respond to a changed world …
Countryside taking the lead and the moral high ground – buying back leases and selling them to the home owners is what we want.
Come on Taylor Wimpey – your publicity stunt has ran out of time
Excellent! Keep holding the unscrupulous venal spivs feet to the fire until they beg to return the Freeholds to the rightful owners. NEXT we go for the crooked managing agents…….
Morris Homes rarely get mentioned due to their RPI linked increase only leaseholds but they use exactly the same selling tactics, hope they follow and do the right thing.
Most Countryside houses and flats were sold on doubling ground rents every 15 years NOT 10 years. Nationwide ,Santander etc won’t remortgage on these 15 year doubling ground rents and solicitors will warn purchasers not to buy.
It is a chink of light but that’s all. Keeping the 10 year review linked to RPI is just as immoral and poses massive risk when inflation returns. Could be worse than doubling and hope the Review picks this up. Peppercorn rent and leasehold abolished by government is the only socially fair solution
When creation of new leasehold tenure was abolished in Ireland the law was changed to make it possible for leaseholders to acquire their freeholds very simply at a maximum cost of 11 years ground rent. All of the other countries that abolished leasehold tenure have surely done something similar. Is it not time for the UK to grasp the nettle and end this nonsense?
An acknowledgement of the problem, with accompanying intention to act, is a good first step. However there is potential for current Leases/Freeholds to be viewed as not justifiable/fit for purpose and it is this that needs full analysis. Therefore any possible offers by builders to sell the current Freehold to existing doubling ground rent tenants is not a resolution.
These contracts if not fit for purpose should be ripped up and new Freehold created, absent of potential for continued 3rd party abuse of power/financial exploitation of the people who would like to own their home in true sense notwithstanding outstanding mortgages. The cost of creating new Freeholds should not be borne by existing leaseholders: govt need to put paid to any options for 3rd party Freeholders and/or builders to argue against a complete re-write of Freeholds attached to these properties by whatever means at govt disposal.
If there is possibility of a ban on new leasehold sales this must apply to all leasehold contracts created during the 2007-11 period, where it has been shown to be a deliberate planned strategy to create additional income for builders and investors.
Drip feeding these announcements by, in this case, Countrywide is not helpful – creating more uncertainty and confusion, dividing opinion whilst hoping people will believe they are getting a good ‘compensatory’ deal. We must be put in a position which safeguards freedom to make choices. Currently that right to choose is non-existant.
Excellent news!. Finally a glimmer of light now for the poor sods stuck on 10 year doubling leases.
Well done to the tireless efforts of Sebastian O’ Kelly , Sir Peter Bottomly, all at LKP and Katie Kendrick. Thankyou ever so much.
Now let’s all hope that the avalanche gathers pace and truly all leases no matter what the terms are wiped from law.
This is good news but the cost to purchase the freehold and covenants haven’t been confirmed yet so unsure if it’s all good news. It’s a shame that it appears to have taken concerted pressure from The Leasehold Campaign facebook Group and residents writing to the Countryside CEO to make this happen. This situation shouldn’t have been brought about in the first place and there are still thousands trapped in this leasehold scandal. All builders must follow suit if they want to improve their reputation and continue selling houses and the government must act to avoid the collapse of the housing market and the financial turmoil that will bring.
Question? Countryside are buying back some of the freeholds they sold to E&J.
Will it still be E&J that carry out the administration on behalf of Countryside or will Countryside be taking that over?
If E&J are appointed to administer the portfolio will they still keep their astonishing charges?
If on the other hand Countryside do take back the administration will their charges be set at a more acceptable rate?
Agree, this is a fantastic development for the houses that were sold leasehold for no good reason apart from greed and because they have been getting away with it for years with flat owners!
We must not take our eyes off the ball regarding the horrendous way flat owners have been and are still treated.
In most cases (unless they have a RTM or a RMC) they have no choice in who/how their developments are run and managed and have no control over the running costs either.
We can already see that the housing market is stalling because of the way these properties are managed (or not managed in most cases).
Owners of blocks of flats must be given the option to appoint a managing agent of their choice via a Residents Management Company.
All chargable clauses for permissions of any kind should be written out of all current/future leases
All leases should have a default of 999 years, so no excuses for lease extentions and the costs that entails.
Existing flat owners must be included in any leasehold reforms, as they need to sell their properties as well.
This is a question that must be asked at the next APPG meeting for clarity.
Too many flat owners are suffering from stress and depression a they are unable to move on with their lives.
This campaign is gping tonrun and run, we are going nowhere until everyone is put into a position where they do not feel trapped and exploited.
Karen as a flat owner I am in total agreement with you and just hope,and wish that flat leaseholders would galvanise and take on the spivvy Freeholders and the crooked thieving ‘Managing agents’ who do the Freeholders bidding. Criminality is committed on an hourly basis by these individuals. We must rid ourselves of these parasites.
This is great news but thee much more needs to be done to help those stuck with Leasehold properties . I think all freeholds should be offered to leaseholders at a affordable price with restrictive covenants removed.
The realisation that the dream house you work so hard to pay for is in fact not yours and never will be is devastating. I like many others feel so conned, deceived and exploited which has all had an impact on my health.,
I think the requirement of a management company to care for communal green areas on housing estates should be removed I would be more than happy to pay extra on my community charge to cover this.
One example of the definition of a mortgage:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/mortgage.html
So, does this mean then that ALL the mortgages that been approved/given by banks/building societies are basically not worth the paper they are written on.
And the leaseholder can walk away from their debts? I am in no way suggesting anyone does this, but it could be implied in that grey area of the law, which we know the legal profession love to prove and fight.. as we leaseholders have fallen foul to them in the passed.
I am no solicitor, but if I were, I would be setting myself up to challenge all the 100,000’s, if not millions of mortgages that have been granted by lending institutions, as they clearly have lent money on leasehold properties that people will never own…or am I missing something?
I wanted to share something a member of the National Leasehold Campaign has posted. And it certainly is a serious concern.
“I’m concerned that the outcome of all of this may just be a compromise of sorting out doubling ground rents. I’m concerned that developers have got together and formed a PR strategy around this consultation based on denouncing doubling ground rents as a strategic concession to water down the end result.
Too many developers now seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet of condemning doubling ground rents and making sycophantic statements aimed at manipulating ministers into thinking that they care. It’s a classic Framing Tactic”
https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/framing-theory/
I agree with this leaseholders concerns. I feel the developers are manipulating the government and media into thinking they are “sorting the problem themselves”
This is far from it. ALL leaseholders (both Doubling and RPI) want to be put back into the same position before these greedy developers sold the ground from beneath us. THIS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO !
Leaseholders do not want to be reverted to RPI. People want to own their own homes and government need to do everything to ensure people can do so. The process to purchase freeholds need to be fairer and transparent. Non of this arguing over capitalisation rates and having to prepare for war to take on these very rich developers/freeholders. Freeholders need to play nicely and fairly for once in their lives. Government need to MAKE THEM because they aren’t going to do it “willy nilly”
Media keep referring to the “Ground Rent Scandal”. This is so much more than ground rents. The onward sale of our freeholds to 3rd parties who then charge extortionate fees to literally do anything to the house is what this is about. This is about the X Factor they have sold onto these investors. It’s the X Factor that makes our homes so desirable to these investors, it’s not necessarily the ground rent. I never realised my house even had an X Factor never mind that they would create one to provide them with and endless income stream. The X Factor was never there when I bought my house, it’s been something they have created purely for the purpose to exploit leaseholders.
ALL DEVELOPERS, Bellway, Taylor Wimpey, Barratts, Morris Homes, Linden Homes, Countryside, Redrow, Miller Homes, Keepmoat and any others I’ve missed need to buy back our freeholds and return them to us.
WE WILL NOT STOP CAMPAIGNING UNTIL THEY DO !!!
TOTALLY AGREE KATIE. Hold the feet to the fire. Believe nothing of you hear and only half of what you see until you have a signed document transferring your
and others rightfully owned freeholds.
The pressure must be relentless to right this wrong. We must NEVER give up. The days of Rachmanist Freeholders / Ground rent portfolio merchants are numbered. These parasites have fed off Leaseholders for long enough.
It’s possible newbuild houses are/were overvalued at point of sale. Asking to be put back to the position in at point of sale raises additional questions – was the freehold price at point of sale overstated? And on what basis did the builder justify the then and existing silly calculations eg 10x a GR figure? This gets back to the whole issue of the system they’ve been allowed to operate which has been exposed as wholesale abuse.. Buying back an already inflated FH will not right the wrong.
The builders made £bn profit on the homes they sold us during this period and to offer to let us now potentially pay them £000’s per house for a FH is still letting them profit from us once again using a calculation that isn’t likely substantiated if examined.. They conned us. We can’t let them do it again.
They (builders, the E&J’s et al ) will have to write-off all unjustifiable leases and take the full hit whilst never being legally allowed to do it again. Issue newly drafted freeholds and give them to everybody now with leases created during this period. This is all one big well devised strategy to make this go away with minimal ramifications. Meanwhile nobody wants to buy these houses, thus those that want to sell are trapped. This whole thing will leave a legacy hard to forget. We should be compensated for that too because there’s nothing more oppressive than having your freedom to make choices taken away from you and freedom of movement is currently not possible if you were nis-sold one of these houses.
Good point, during the crisis of 2008 the taxpayer bailed out the banks, from what Katie has mentioned there is a risk of collusion and developers avoiding taking the cost of their blunder and false ideas that we will stand by silent. Parasites should be punished, if one or two developers go under I don’t really care, why should I? They didn’t care when exploiting loopholes in the legislation, did they?
Exactly! If some developers go under – tough! They should NOT be bailed out by taxpayers. I didn’t believe the banks should have been. Let them sink on swim in true Darwinian style.
And I add ny heartfelt thanks to all those who have worked on our behalf to expose this issue. Thank you.
Have to say I also smell fish as to apparent sudden ‘conversion’ over recent days and use of same hymnal. Last thing these coves want is meaningful reform. Wonder if there has been quiet ‘hymn orchestration’ with ministers on someone’s yacht?
All the government likely want is an easy way off the doubling ten yearly GR hook, then let leasehold revert to a nice little earner as is the English way.
Scruples didn’t build the British Empire, but by jove they lost us one.
On closer inspection Countryside offer only covers 5 sites and does nothing for the majority on 15 year doubling GR. It’s a racket and PR stunt to get some good media coverage.
Javid is a Goldman Sachs banker and will protect vested interests and donations from the developers. His Review will merely ban leasehold houses and doubling ground rents. It will not be a proper Review like the Endowment Review and looked at each case.
Pork barrel politics feeding at the trough. Leaseholders are being treated like pig swill by the law.
Countryside have a lot of explaining to do:
10 year doubling ground rents sold at Silverpoint, N18
15 year doubling ground rents sold at St. Pauls Square, Bow
15 year doubling grond rents sold at East City Point, Canning Town.
15 year doubling ground rents sold at The Mount, Mill Hill.
Selling leasehold houses (still!) at Brook Valley Gardens
Planning to sell leasehold houses at Feature 17, Walthamstow
And this is all just in London.
The public have had enough.
Ground rents, admin charges and cowboy service charges all need to go.
Leasehold and property management sector need urgent regulation- self regulation will not work when these companies are playing with our money and we have no recourse to hold them to account.
I think the legislation (YES RED TAPE!) should go further. There should be limits imposed on “investment portfolios” where certain types of properties should be off-limits, built for living. Criteria? Property size up to XXX sq. ft., , ground area, property value threshold, etc.
Bob- As far as I can see all Countryside leases in London are 15 year doubling; ground rents.if not 10 year.
To add to your list
15 year doubling ground rents sold at Greenwich Millenium..Partnership with Taylor Wimpey !
15 year doubling ground rents sold at Acton Gardens W3 8QT
These developers along with Javid and Sharma ( new useless Housing Minister ) are suddenly faking empathetic with leaseholders. Enough is enough quotes Javid as if that solves everything. They are immoral and don’t give a damn
So this way one developers admits they have done the wrong thing setting a precedent (as someone here mentioned) for all others to follow.