LBC have invited people to email questions for Theresa May for the show at 7pm tomorrow.
How about this for starters:
Housebuilders are building exploitative leasehold houses and flats with outrageous lease terms, such as high and doubling ground rents.
Many have been sold with taxpayers’ help through Help To Buy.
Taylor Wimpey is putting aside £130 million to address disadvantaged buyers; Nationwide decided last week not to lend on these houses and flats.
If re-elected will the Prime Minister commit the next parliament to act on exploitative and predatory abuses in the leasehold housing sector as highlighted by the charity the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and reported by the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold reform.
Property tribunal upholds lease extension ‘scandal’ that pays millions to freeholders
Related posts:
MP urges Commons to condemn developers selling leasehold houses with onerous ground rents. And names Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Bellway and Adriatic Land …
Leasehold houses to be outlawed, says the Daily Mail
Labour to cap ‘legalised extortion’ of ground rents and end leasehold houses … Opposition and government now compete to reform leasehold
Daily Mail on leasehold houses and doubling ground rent scandals
The Independent covers leasehold scandals
Taylor Wimpey: Secretive £130m ‘compo’ is PR fluff and not good enough
I have sent the question to LBC. Also gave my name, address and telephone number.
Come on everybody, send in the question. If enough of us respond it should be the highest number of people asking the same question.
Especially if the 4,000 odd members of the Facebook Group formed by Katie Kendrick also respond in great numbers
I totally agree Trevor.
I’ve pushed it in the National leasehold Campaign facebook group and will continue to do so.
PEOPLE POWER !!
katie
Great stuff, as usual, Katie.
Basically I just copied the question as printed by admin although I did add just 2 more very short sentences.
If we all post up the almost, or same question it should get more noticed and more chance of being “seen” by LBC as a serious major topic.
Too long a post and it will probably get ignored with dozens of others.
It would be interesting and useful to know how many people from the Facebook site and LKP site posted about leasehold houses to LBC.
Admin/Sebastian/Katie, is there anyway that could be possible,
Trevor I want to post something to build up the numbers but I am not personally effected but the house leasehold scandal however I believe this is an opportunity for us all to step up to he plate. Any ideas on the narrative I should apply???
Hi Kim,
Well I took the easy route. What admin said with a few words of my own. And left out the bit about TW stumping up money because what TW is suggesting is just totally unacceptable. The leaseholders should be put back to their original position, i.e. the chance to buy the freehold at approx. £5K.
E mail to LBC
Housebuilders are building exploitative leasehold houses and flats with outrageous lease terms, such as high and doubling ground rents.
Builders Taylor Wimpey are one of the worst offenders, along with numerous others such as Belway and Persimmon Homes.
Many have been sold with taxpayers’ help through Help To Buy Scheme.
Nationwide Building Society decided last week not to lend on these houses and flats.
If re-elected will the Prime Minister commit the next parliament to act on exploitative and predatory abuses in the leasehold housing sector as highlighted by the charity the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and reported by the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold reform.
This new saga of builders introducing horrendous onerous leases that will leave purchasers with properties possibly worth almost nothing in the long term, and un saleable both short and long term is far more serious than doing something about capping standard utility tariffs.
Hi Trevor, thanks. I have sent it via email . I have thrown in ‘ Rachmanist’ and my possible abstention from voting for Theresa May if something drastic is not done.
Just fired off the following, little long winded but who knows something may come of it.
Please could you ask the Prime Minister her stance on reforming the leasehold laws.
I moved into my first home in May 2016. I used the governments help to buy scheme to help with getting onto the first rung of the property ladder after renting for 15 years. At time of moving in I was 34 years old.
At the time of exchange I was only informed about the ground charges that double every 25 years. Currently £300 with a lease of 125 years. I could not pull out of the process as I stood to loose £2500 in fees that I had already paid. After moving in and within 6 months a letter arrived saying the freehold had been sold to Adriatic Land 5, I’m sure you have heard of this obscure organisation. Surely as the law stands the residents of the block that I live in should of had first refusal into collective enfranchisement?.
As the lease stands at the moment I’ll be paying £600 a year at 59 years old and £1200 at 84 years old so well into retirement if I make it that long. Is this right for a future pensioner to be saddled with this burden from an Archaic law?. How is it that Scotland and various former countries from the old British empire have abolished this yet we are stuck with it?. How is it that when I would like to leave the flat as an inheritance to my son that he will then have the burden of making sure this sum of money is paid or risk forfeiting the flat?.
Please can you look at this situation that myself and many other hard working decent people are finding themselves in this situation and feel completely stuck as the system is heavily geared to support the freeholders.
I love 30 miles north of London and in Mr Selous’s constituency. Also for the first time since I’ve been old enough to vote I’m seriously contemplating abstaining from the general election due to this issue.
Kind regards
My name is Jeff,
Insert address and phone number
Sent from my iPhone
I have sent my question to LBC. I sent it via Facebook hope that’s the correct way to do it.?
Here a question that gets straight to the point:
‘In view of her vision for a society that works for all and not just the priveleged few, what is the PM going to do about the extortionate cost of lease extensions?’
Why just leasehold extensions? Why not leasehold FULL STOP? It’s been abolished in every other country and persists only in England and Wales.
Fixing the problem with extensions does nothing about the endless list of abuses with which the leasehold sector is rife. It’s time to get rid of it and move to commonhold. Why prolong the agony?
Mrs Thatcher said “There is no prouder word in our history than ‘freeholder'”. So… why not enable more people to escape the status of tenants, which leaseholders are, legally? They own NOTHING.
We must make as much noise as possible during this election.
The sector knows changes are company. We will see them using all their guile to nobble government … as they so successfully have done in the past.
That is, assuming the government want to do more than simply removing Help To Buy from new-build leasehold houses.
I have sent something to LBC but am not expecting much in return.
A few words to get our hopes up but little action expected. Just as the leaseholders in Retirement complexes have received since 2010.
I have already asked the Tory Party if they will look at leasehold reform.
The answer I got was they are going to form a strong and stable government
I think at present Leaseholders rank below Foxhunters.
It will probably require direct action to get major reform.
MH you say it will “Probably require direct action to get Major reform”!!! Welcome to my world!!!
I have a question….. im a fulltime firefighter working 50 hours a week and have 3 children my husband works 60 hours a week and becuse of high house prices in the south west (thank you holiday homes) have NEVER been able to afford out own home we are now both 38!
Great news.. new being built and yeah… we can use the help to buy scheme BUT yep you guessed it ALL the homes are leasehold….!
WHY? These are detached houses!
We cant afford the groubd rent in 10 years time !! (Thanks again for the emergency services buget cuts and pay freeze !!!)
i risk my life day in and day out and i cant afford to own my own home and give my children a stable place to live…..
Do we all need to give up work claim benfits get a council house and buy that at a discount price to get on the property ladder ?
Why are hardworking people bring screwed over ALL the time ….its about time people started walking aroubd outside of yoyr ivory towers instead of peering out the windows in the penthouse…….
Hi DIxie,
Have you sent this question to Theresa May? I believe she visited Cornwall recently pity you didn’t meet her!!
I also live in the South West (Devon) born and bred and my husband and I were both brought up in large 3 bedroom council houses with huge gardens. We stupidly thought we would try to buy our own home back in the 70’s which we did and have struggled since then to maintain this position on very low wages.
Thanks to Maggie Thatcher who then ‘sold off ‘ all these lovely council houses for a pittance no such thing exists any more. ‘Her dream’ of everyone owning their own home has turned into a complete nightmare for all of us!!!! We were first conned into a sort of help to buy scheme run by the council interest only for 5 yrs we did not pay back the actual mortgage, then we were conned into taking out an endowment mortgage which we all know how that went and then in our 50’s we downsized to a leasehold flat!!!! Don’t get me wrong we love our flat BUT we HATE the con that is leasehold. DON’T BUY INTO IT!!
Well said Dixie. You have described what its like in the “real world”.
With no disrespect I am glad you can’t afford the escalating ground rent, in the longer term it will be for the best.
My daughter lives in the south west (rented property) and low/typical south west Cornwall income so I fully understand what you are saying.
Yes, St Ives is in total darkness at Christmas – the holiday home owners don’t occupy their second homes in the winter.
Except in extenuating circumstances there is no need whatsoever for houses to be leasehold.
I am shocked/disappointed re the low number of posts in this thread – I hope hundreds more are posting “the question” to LBC so that hopefully the PM will approached and comment favourably
Trevor I too am disappointed in the low low number of posts in this thread. I do hope folks will take the time to email their questions to LBC. The opportunity is there to bring this matter to the attention of our PM, It should / must be taken!
Trevor, I think many of the older ones who used to contribute on here (mostly about retirement leasehold) have now passed away. Either that or they have given up hope of any Government intervention, and have not got the energy to continue.
The younger leaseholders like most of that generation will use Facebook or Twitter.
I do not understand the lack of interest in this subject by all the political parties. Leasehold reform could be a massive vote winner.
Maybe the Tories do not want to upset some of their doners, but why are the others not interested.
I post all LKP articles in the national leasehold campaign facebook group which has 4100 members. We look to LKP for guidance and r working closely with Sebastian and Martin. They r legends and we ALL appreciate their amazing work
How about asking the PM if she thinks it is acceptable for the Government to give money to be used to prop up Private Building Companies to build sub standard /small leasehold houses and flats.
Tax payers money is being used to hike up the sales prices of these homes artificially, and then they are packaged up and flogged off to mainly one company that is based off shore?
Off shore, the owners are untraceable, they don’t pay any U.K taxes and all at the expense of the UK tax payers…. how nice!
Get some taxes from them please and make them accountable for the misery they are causing to families!
How are these Private Freeholding Investments Co’s allowed to demand money every year, for something that is costing them nothing to service.
It is time the Government stopped the Help to Buy Scheme as it is fooling nobody.
The only thing it is doing is hiking up prices!
There are already lots of new Build homes left unsold and this is just the beginning!
My question to Theresa May:
Prime Minister, It has been said that you are minded to bring back Fox Hunting.
would it not be more equitable and more popular if instead of foxes legislation was brought forward to make it lawful to hunt exploitative freeholders/developers and managing agents?
Just emailed my question to LBC…
Dear Prime Minister,
Will you make firm manifesto commitments to urgently reform the disreputable and corrupt flat and house leasehold system per the recent white paper and carefully researched recommendations of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Leasehold Reform and the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership (LKP)?
The catch 22 of the justified publicity on the ground rent scandal is that all existing leaseholders, including flats, will now find their homes hugely devalued whatever their ground rent as the abuses of leasehold are publicised.
In practice leaseholders have few effective rights. If leaseholders apply to a tribunal or court, landlords can pass on their own legal costs to all leaseholders even if the leaseholders (a) are not personally party to a case and (b) are not defending against a landlord allegation.
It is an unfair catch 22 as barristers are used against leaseholders at the leaseholders’ expense. Leases are riddled with unfair gotcha terms that effectively give landlords complete freedom to act as they wish.
Freeholds sell for less than 5-10% of the combined value of the property, yet ‘landlords’ acquire feudal Lord rights over the leases and can seek forfeiture for a £350 debt (with more huge legal costs applied), and can even build extra flats onto the premises in which they’ve invested less than 10% of value. Freeholders need not spend a penny on ‘their’ premises after the tiny 5-10% investment but have a ‘human right’to profit from (exploit) the leaseholders who invest 90-95%.
Extending leases, collective enfranchisement, and even Right to Manage are riddled with obstacles and holes that make them easy to thwart with no come-back on exploiting freeholders.
“Extending leases, collective enfranchisement, and even Right to Manage are riddled with obstacles and holes that make them easy to thwart with no come-back on exploiting freeholders.”
So true – radical reform is needed, Leasehold is like the Augean Stables.
Freeholders who are based out of the country and do not live on site, should be taxed on their assets. Tax them into oblivion, – they contribute NOTHING to the economy, they create no jobs, and half the time the buildings are mismanaged and fall into disrepair. It should be made unprofitable for them to exploit leaseholders. Buy to let landlords are more regulated than off shore freeholder leeches. I do wonder why…
I have been reviewing ALL the emails, letters I have sent and replies (eventually!) received since 2010 to each housing minister, MP, LEASE, FPRA etc: and actually think I am going to bundle them all up and send them to Theresa May although I am sure she DOES know the mess that has been created but whether she will DO anything about it remains to be seen!!
Things have surely been made worse since RTM because managing agents /freeholders have had to look for other means of revenue since losing thousands of pounds a year to those who have exercised this right!!!
Absolutely right. The burden of meeting the debts of Peverel and those like it falls ever more the poor leaseholders who are last out the door in terms of RTM. The profits and loans to indebted companies have long since been sucked off to places like the British Virgin Islands, free of taxes in the case of the profits by means of interest rates contrived to eliminate them.
Peverel jacked up their charges from 10% of expenditure some years ago to 15% once they started haemmoraging large London developments, and these charges were already in violation of the RICS Code of Practice on fees as they contained a built-in conflict of interest incentive to maximise costs. Has FirstPort continued this does anyone know?
But getting rid of such horrible landlords doesn’t reduce service charges at all. It becomes necessary to start repairing the damage and this typically leads to higher charges for several years. The good news is that it contributes to the economy and the govt gets to collect VAT on the expenditure. A move to enable leaseholders to become commonholders and to take responsibility for their buildings could be a big boost to the economy in both extra taxes for public services and additional spending within the economy.
I have just listened to the LBC Nick Ferrari programme including Theresa May.
Not a mention of Leasehold problems. As I have said many times before this subject is well down the list of priorities for most people and organisations, except of course for those directly affected.
Half the 30 minute programme was taken up by chit chat discussing her personal life, when what we want to know is what the Government will do for the people. Especially those who need urgent help like many leaseholders.
She was given an easy ride, let’s see what the other leaders have to say, I have no doubt that Nick Ferrari will make it more difficult for them.
OMG!!! What utter sexist bilge fir 15mins about her personal life. Who gives a S h*te if she has a ‘ signature dish’ or children or whether she goes to church or whether her parents died young or lived to a ripe old age. I DON’T – it’s irrelevant. I do not listen to LBC and will not tune in in future. I’ ll stick with the excellent Andrew Neil on the the daily politics show.
Totally agree with Kim.
I thought the opening question from Nick F about whether the PM would have been a different person if she had been able to have children was a complete and utter disgrace and totally irrelevant.
Shame on you Nick and LBC. I also will not bother with LBC again, once was enough..
Nick, you need urgent further training from the likes of Andrew Neil
A completely wasted opportunity!
Is there a petition that we may join in order to bring more attention to the doubling of ground rents every ten years?
Received a letter from Theresa May this morning asking for myself and my wife ‘s vote, sent it back saying ‘ you want my vote, abolish leasehold.