There is probably no better insight into the effectiveness of the #leaseholdscandal campaign than today’s article about David Wilson Homes Winnington Village in the Northwich Guardian.
It features an interview with Emily Martin, a first-time buyer in her 20s or early 30s – people’s ages used to be essential info for local reporters – and what she had to say was remarkable.
An ordinary homebuyer perfectly expresses the issues of leasehold, just as did Nathan Stewart, in national newspapers and the BBC, last week:
Emily Martin discovered that her freehold had been sold to Landmark Collections and then traded on, as happens so often in leasehold.
After speaking to neighbours, Emily Martin found that everyone else was in the same position:
“I realised then I was part of a bigger problem – that developers were unnecessarily selling houses as leasehold to make more money, and that once they have sold the plots, they often sell the freeholds on to various investment companies
“Because there is no law to prevent this, they don’t provide any notice to the homeowner, or give a first refusal to the purchaser.
“People think they are buying a house to own and be proud of, when in fact we are tenants sitting on land we do not own, facing extra charges not just for the ground rent, but from companies – often held offshore – who also charge extra fees for things such as permission to alter the house, re-mortgage or even own a pet.”
The article pointed out that the local Labour MP for Weaver Vale, Mike Amesbury, had raised leasehold in the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the new year.
Ms Martin welcomed Sajid Javid’s announcement on December 21 to end leasehold houses and ground rents on new builds.
“This is great news for future buyers, who can buy a house and own all of it and I’m really pleased for each and every one of them, but it does leave current leaseholders in a precarious position.
“At present, I live in a leasehold house on an early phase of a huge development, with all new houses being built and sold as freehold for the same price.
“So if I were to put my house on the market who would really want to buy it?”
It appears that Mr Amesbury is taking up the issue.
“I realised then I was part of a bigger problem” – Winnington resident on the leasehold scandal
ALL around the UK house-buyers have fallen foul the leasehold scandal. For a long time, the ‘feudal’ practice went unnoticed but thanks to the hard work of campaigners and MPs, it is now firmly in the limelight.
The article had the usual denial of responsibility from David Wilson Homes :
“As a leading housebuilder, and in line with industry standards, it is not our practice to retain freeholds …”
What standards might this be, when considered in slightly wider detail?
National house builders have systematically cheated their own customers by dumping them in leasehold houses, and ripped off the rest of us too by abusing the Help To Buy scheme.
Taxpayers have poured billions into this scheme to get first-timers on to the housing ladder, only for the building firms to dump them in leasehold tenancies with a raft of income streams for dodgy investors who buy the freeholds.
David Wilson Homes, part of Barratt, continued:
“The homes at Winnington Village are advertised to customers as being for sale on a leasehold basis and all of our customers have access to independent legal advice throughout the purchase process.”
Around 100,000 home owners are stuck with leasehold houses and flats that are unsellable owing to the the #leaseholdscandal.
Related posts:
LKP trustees Katie Kendrick and Louie Burns tell Sky News and BBC R4 MoneyBox of ‘David and Goliath’ fight for freeholds
Gleeson tells ground rent speculator Landmark Investments to remove testimonial
Pete Redfern tells LKP how Taylor Wimpey will sort the ground rent scandal
Taxpayer boost for offshore speculators as Help To Buy lands 17,000 home buyers in leasehold
Who are Dublin-based Boardwalk Finance DAC and Jetty Finance DAC? Why do they own freeholds to people’s homes? And why are they based abroad?
FirstPort Retirement is allowed into ARMA
The in-post Housing Minister should invite the CMA to declare the ground rent payments on leasehold houses to be an unfair contract term .
The Housing Minister should declare his intention to accelerate the leasehold reform process to help the home buyers from being ripped off by speculating companies which try to take advantage of feudal laws which previous Housing Ministers did nothing to address.
The Prime Minister and all her Cabinet Ministers should jointly express support now for leasehold property owners in England and Wales and to restrict future sale of freehold title of blocks of flats to companies controlled by the leaseholders. and terminate the collection of ground rent by payment of 10 x first annual ground rent .
Why aren’t the local MPs in Cheshire area helping their constituents and voters to push for early resolution and termination of the leasehold system .
Why do they say nothing to help their constituents ? They should be shouting out for the end of the leasehold system.
Send a copy of this report to your local MP :
“A 79-year-old pensioner in Clitheroe paid £38,000 to buy the freehold to his Taylor Wimpey leasehold house to ground rent speculators E&J Capital Partners” .