And retirement ground rents are to be banned as well
Government press release below
The government is to ban new ground rents – including those in retirement developments – then set about implementing the leasehold reforms advocated by the Law Commission.
It will be a two-stage process, precisely following LKP’s recommended approach, which will see new ground rents banned in the upcoming session of Parliament.
This will have huge implications on how the agenda to reform leasehold is carried through.
The sector lobbyists – who have been busy on damage limitation today – would have relished a complex, all-embracing leasehold reform bill. This would have included lots of rabbit holes such as arguing over the fag-packet calculations for enfranchisement valuations, marriage value etc ad nauseam (all of which were dreamt up by chartered surveyors for London’s larger freeholders).
Instead, new ground rents are simply to be banned, with no exception, and once that happens the entire edifice of rip-off leasehold crumbles. The scene is then set for a far more consumer oriented reform of the communal ownership of residential property.
The reform timetable is explained by the excellent House of Commons library here:
Leasehold reform in England and Wales: What’s happening and when?
On 21 December 2017, following a consultation exercise, the Government announced plans to tackle the growing problem of newly built houses sold as leasehold rather than freehold, and to limit ground rents on new lease agreements.
Banning ground rents deprives this racket of a future, which is a massive change.
It is excellent, too, that retirement developers such as Churchill and McCarthy and Stone failed to keep ground rents: they are particularly aggressive in retirement properties and wholly unjustified. Mortgage lenders would not lend on these products, which are instead bought by downsizers for cash.
It is solely due to the efforts of LKP that this initially successful lobbying from retirement house builders has failed.
As it happens, our hugely subsidised plc housebuilders were already abandoning ground rents as quietly as possible.
Barratt ceased introducing them to new flats in October last year. Countryside Properties plc, Bellway, Taylor Wimpey and the Berkeley group, which builds prime Thames riverside flats, have followed.
Five major housebuilders abolish ground rents on new flats
Five of the UK’s biggest housebuilders have scrapped ground rents on new flats, in a victory for future homeowners and campaigners who have long argued that the charges allow leaseholders to be exploited. Thousands of homeowners have been hit with inflated management fees and ground rents that rose by hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year on new-build flats and houses.
The reforms announced today advance the cause of commonhold and we await seeing a sunset clause, after which point all new developments must be commonhold.
It is good that there will be a commonhold council involving consumers – not the usual property sector stooges who have materially benefited from the rigged leasehold system for so long.
These reforms go a considerable way to addressing everything that LKP has campaigned for.
But let’s consider the context: household name developers are today toxic. They cheated consumers over doubling ground rents and, even worse, built dangerous buildings after the building sector fiddled the fire safety regulations. The current Grenfell Inquiry is shocking and may well lead to prosecutions.
Also, there is the Covid disaster: for the foreseeable future house building in the UK is going to depend on government and public goodwill and, almost certainly, public finance.
The boom-time property sector of the past 20 years is finished. So are its dodgy practices, of which leasehold is at the heart.
The case for housebuilders cleaning up their act is overwhelming: no one right now, even the Conservative party, is going to do it any favours.
As for the parasitical speculators in residential freeholds – often offshore and hidden – no one cares. Indeed, it would be an excellent notion to tax ground rents to help pay for the cladding remediation. .
We applaud the initiative this week of our MP patrons – Sir Peter Bottomley, Sir Ed Davey and Justin Madders – for freeholders to pay for the cladding works OR to hand over the freeholds to the leaseholders if they can’t or won’t.
Press coverage today
Rip-off charges that trap leaseholders in homes to be banished
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick unveiled new laws to help leaseholders today Changes will mean almost 4.5m people will be ‘thousands of pounds better off’ Rip-off charges which trap families in unsaleable homes are set to be banished Campaign groups welcome Housing Secretary’s ‘anti rip-off landlords charter’ Nearly 4.5million leaseholders in England will be ‘tens of thousands of pounds’ better off as a result of laws to be unveiled today by the Housing Secretary.
Millions set to benefit from leasehold property reforms
Millions of leasehold homeowners will be given the right to extend their leases to 990 years with zero ground rents under major government reforms to English property law. Robert Jenrick, housing secretary, announced plans on Thursday to bring forward legislation to tackle “cumbersome bureaucracy and additional, unnecessary and unfair expenses” affecting up to 4.5m leasehold owners.
Millions of leaseholders to be freed from ‘rip-off’ ground rents after landmark reforms
Millions of homeowners will be able to free themselves from expensive ground rent s, potentially saving thousands of pounds, after the government announced what it described as the biggest changes to property law in 40 years. Leaseholders will be able to extend their leases to 990 years with zero ground rent under new legislation to be brought forward imminently.
Government vows to end complex leasehold costs
By Kevin Peachey Personal finance correspondent Planned reforms of the controversial leasehold system in England are set to clamp down on high costs when extending a lease. The government’s proposals should help those with shorter leases fearing bills of many thousands of pounds.
And unhappy McCarthy and Stone:
And unhappy Wallace Estates https://www.propertyweek.com/insight/axing-ground-rents-is-a-bad-idea/5111887.articleResponse to MHCLG’s announcement on leasehold reform
07 Jan 2021 McCarthy Stone (‘the Group’), the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities, notes today’s announcement by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) regarding reforms to leasehold properties. The Group is disappointed to see that as part of these reforms MHCLG has reversed its previously announced exemption for the retirement housing industry from the zero rating of ground rents.
Government reforms make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to buy their homes
STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 THURSDAY 7 JANUARY 2021
· Millions of leaseholders will be given a new right to extend their lease by 990 years
· Changes could save households from thousands to tens of thousands of pounds
· Elderly also protected by reducing ground rents to zero for all new retirement properties
Millions of leaseholders will be given the right to extend their lease by a maximum term of 990 years at zero ground rent, the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced today (7 January 2021).
Today’s measures come as part of the biggest reforms to English property law for forty years, fundamentally making home ownership fairer and more secure.
Under the current law many people face high ground rents, which combined with a mortgage, can make it feel like they are paying rent on a property they own. Freeholders can increase the amount of ground rent with little or no benefit seen to those faced with extra charges. It can also lengthen and lead to increased costs when buying or selling the property. Today’s changes will mean that any leaseholder who chooses to extend their lease on their home will no longer pay any ground rent to the freeholder, enabling those who dream of fully owning their home to do so without cumbersome bureaucracy and additional, unnecessary and unfair expenses
For some leaseholders, these changes could save them thousands, to tens of thousands of pounds.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
“Across the country people are struggling to realise the dream of owning their own home but find the reality of being a leaseholder far too bureaucratic, burdensome and expensive.
“We want to reinforce the security that home ownership brings by changing forever the way we own homes and end some of the worst practices faced by homeowners.“These reforms provide fairness for 4.5 million leaseholders and chart a course to a new system altogether.”
The government is also now establishing a Commonhold Council – a partnership of leasehold groups, industry and government – that will prepare homeowners and the market for the widespread take-up of commonhold.
The commonhold model is widely used around the world and allows homeowners to own their property on a freehold basis, giving them greater control over the costs of home ownership. Blocks are jointly owned and managed, meaning when someone buys a flat or a house, it is truly theirs and any decisions about its future are theirs too.
Professor Nick Hopkins, Commissioner for Property Law at the Law Commission said:
“We are pleased to see Government taking its first decisive step towards the implementation of the Law Commission’s recommendations to make enfranchisement cheaper and simpler. The creation of the Commonhold Council should help to reinvigorate commonhold, ensuring homeowners will be able to call their homes their own.”
Under current rules, leaseholders of houses can only extend their lease once for 50 years with a ground rent. This compares to leaseholders of flats who can extend as often as they wish at a zero ‘peppercorn’ ground rent for 90 years. Today’s changes mean both house and flat leaseholders will now be able to extend their lease to a new standard 990 years with a ground rent at zero.
A cap will also be introduced on ground rent payable when a leaseholder chooses to either extend their lease or become the freeholder. An online calculator will be introduced to make it simpler for leaseholders to find out how much it will cost them to buy their freehold or extend their lease.
The Government is abolishing prohibitive costs like ‘marriage value’ and set the calculation rates to ensure this is fairer, cheaper and more transparent. An online calculator will be introduced to make it simpler for leaseholders to find out how much it will cost them to buy their freehold or extend their lease.
Further measures will be introduced to protect the elderly. The Government has previously committed to restricting ground rents to zero for new leases to make the process fairer for leaseholders. This will also now apply to retirement leasehold properties (homes built specifically for older people), so purchasers of these homes have the same rights as other homeowners and are protected from uncertain and rip-off practices.
Leaseholders will also be able to voluntarily agree to a restriction on future development of their property to avoid paying ‘development value’.
Legislation will be brought forward in the upcoming session of Parliament, to set future ground rents to zero. This is the first part of seminal two-part reforming legislation in this Parliament. We will bring forward a response to the remaining Law Commission recommendations, including commonhold, in due course.
Notes to Editors:
· 1The Law Commission published their report on enfranchisement valuation ‘Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease Report on options to reduce the price payable’ in January 2020 and their reports on enfranchisement, commonhold and right to manage in July 2020. These reports are available here: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/leasehold-enfranchisement/
· A freeholder owns both the property and the land it stands on while leaseholders only own the property.
· Marriage value assumes that the value of one party holding both the leasehold and freehold interest is greater than when those interests are held by separate parties. Today’s announcement will remove marriage value from the premium calculation.
· ‘Modern ground rent’ is the rent (determined under section 15 of the 1967 Act) payable during the additional term of a lease extension of a house (under the current law). It is calculated by valuing the “site”, and then decapitalising that value.
· Many long leases specify an annual ground rent of a ‘peppercorn.’ A peppercorn rent is used in circumstances where it is deemed appropriate for there to be no substantive rent payable. Under the current law, any lease extension of a lease of a flat under the 1993 Act must be granted at a peppercorn rent. Today’s announcement means that both house and flat leaseholders will now be able to extend their lease to 990 years with a ground rent at zero.
· The formula used to work out the cost to leaseholders for buying the freehold or extending the lease includes a discount for any improvements the leaseholder has made and a discount where leaseholders have the right to remain in the property on an assured tenancy after the lease expires. These existing discounts will be retained, alongside a separate valuation methodology for low-value properties known as ‘section 9(1)’.
Related posts:
Ground rents to be allowed in retirement housing, says government
Labour to cap ‘legalised extortion’ of ground rents and end leasehold houses … Opposition and government now compete to reform leasehold
Political arms race commences as Labour announces £250 ground rents for existing leaseholders
Leasehold first-time buyers trapped in leasehold homes with £800 ground rents, says BBC
Lords hear how LKP warned government over ground rents and leasehold houses … in 2015
Freeholders must pay for cladding – or lose freeholds, say LKP patron MPs
This is wonderful news but does it apply to people who are currently living in for instance a Churchill Retirement Home?
It seems to me that this only applies to new ground rents. Why is this? Developers will quickly cotton on to people not wanting to buy properties with ground rent and build properties without. This means that properties with ground rents will become unsaleable, meaning that the existing leaseholder, in retirement blocks often executors of a will, or some-one who has moved to a care home, will have to go on paying ground rent and service charges indefinitely.
Agreed. Progress needs to be made – for some service charges are out of control. As retired public sector workers in excess of £6000 service charge and £300 Ground rent in a Berkeley/St George development at Kew Bridge, we are struggling. Flats are already becoming difficult to sell and/or rent. Airbnb will be the only option beneficiary 🙁
Jenny it should apply to all leasehold including the notorious McCarthy & Stone who are the original Churchill Retirement Homes run by I believe the younger McCarthy family.
May I say whilst praises are being handed out to remember the original websites that began this Campaign Against Leasehold Reform such as:
The Truth About Solitaire
Peverel Action
Campaign Against Leasehold Exploitation
About Firstport
To include the majestic:
*Martin Boyd
*Sebastian O’Kelly
*Susan Wood
*Ken Kilmister
*Melissa Brigs
*Don Heady
Plus the Scourge of Firstport the one and only Michael Epstein who has been the catalyst in bringing Peverel that was and now Firstport Property Services Ltd into the news and along with the Editor of About Firstport created the platform for us to post and inform and help both leaseholders and freeholders who required assistance to take on these Rogue Managing Agents.
I thank you all and others, but remember this is the only the end of the beginning and still Jenny it should apply to all leasehold including the notorious McCarthy & Stone who are the original Churchill Retirement Homes run by I believe the younger McCarthy family.
May I say whilst praises are being handed out to remember the original websites that began this Campaign Against Leasehold Reform such as:
The Truth About Solitaire
Peverel Action
Campaign Against Leasehold Exploitation
About Firstport
To include the majestic:
*Martin Boyd
*Sebastian O’Kelly
*Susan Wood
*Ken Kilmister
*Don Heady
*Melissa Brigs
Plus the Scourge of Firstport the one and only Michael Epstein who has been the catalyst in bringing Peverel that was and now Firstport Property Services Ltd into the news and along with the Editor of About Firstport created the platform for us to post.
Also to remember this may be the end of the beginning to replace the corrupt leasehold system and that there are other scams in Fleasehold and so called Estate Managers who exploited the Freehold and Leasehold Residents on new build housing estates from the late 1990s and continue to date.
Sorry S I believed this posting was removed and posted such on About Firstport.
Is there an opportunity now to highlight the Estate Managers who take over the running of communal areas where Local Councils refused to adopt as this is a massive scandal where one estate in Brent has wrongly charged over the past 20 years for items that they do not have responsibility for and items charged under headings that do not exist and failed S20 Notices along with contracts paid before works completed along with dubious tender procedures.
It is believed the figure to be refunded is between £400,000 and £500,000 and the Managing Agent is our old friends Peverel/Firstport/Barratt Homes.
Hi Chas, just seen this. I live in a development of houses built by Countryside with communal areas. Originally controlled by Solitaire we have been undergoing a process of ridding ourselves of these people. We removed FirstPort and are running it ourselves. It’s been a long process and we are still fighting a fixed rent charge. It’s a story that might help others in similar circumstances if anyone is interested.
It was so good to name those that are the best, I actually named them twice.
It’s progress but thousands of leaseholder flat-owners are still required to pay unnecessarily high annual maintenance charges while at the same time continuing to have no power to care for their blocks of flats. The Law Commission has laid out recommendations for the government on how the government can improve this situation hugely. So it would be reassuring for flat-owners if the government would now publish a provisional schedule and timeline for leasehold reforms.
I am merely a leaseholder paying a fixed ground rent of £35 per year on a 999 year lease, my situation is small time compared to others. But still I want to own my freehold, and over the last two years endeavoured to do so, I failed miserably to acquire the freehold of my bungalow. why did I fail? I found myself in a situation where there was not only a freehold to buy, but also a head lease. I was quoted two unreasonable figures to acquire freehold and head lease, and my solicitor (bless her) began to talk of valuers and tribunals, more unknown expense for me. In time honoured fashion I cut my losses and ran, £500 (to solicitor) down the drain with nothing except experience gained.
Too little is mentioned of the industry of professionals who profit from the existence of leasehold. It is not just freeholders who have resisted change, more discretely the professionals – represented by the Law Commission and legal hierarchy and others – have resisted change. Whatever legislation government comes up with, it will not be enough, there is only one solution to our God awful and wicked leasehold system, and that is ABOLITION.
legal profession is a gigantic parasite
I look forward to a further contribution from the lackey Stephen, with marriage values and “other prohibitive costs” abolished, he will be lost for jargon.
I am not prepared to shell out £5,500 to buy my freehold and head lease – 999 year lease, fixed ground rent of £35 per year. I suspect that any legislation that passes through parliament will not address my situation (making it “easier and cheaper” for me to acquire the freehold and head lease of my bungalow). Am I able to extend my lease to 990 years – 950 years left of 999 years – and put an end to paying ground rent?
I am a sub leaseholder paying seven guineas per annum (£7.35 a year) in six monthly instalments. Also it’s 15 days short of 999 years. The lease was taken over by a company in London who now demand fees for everything from asking about making changes to the 3-bed semi detached house to huge search fees if the leaseholder wants to sell (doubled if you need a quick answer). Every search for up to 100 houses in the street has come back with nothing found!
I haven’t enquired about the cost of buying the lease from them (mainly because I have forgotten who they are, having paid ten years worth in one go. I understand they then have six years to contact me to pay the sub lease. If they do, I intend to pay every six month as stated in the sub lease. It must cost them more in admin costs that the lease is worth.
Well done and thank you doesn’t seem enough for the phenomenal effort it has taken LKP to help the government finally reach this point.
I hope you, (Saint) Martin, Harry, Sir Peter Bottomley, Jim Fitzpatrick, Ed Davey, Justin Madders and those who are no longer with us are rightfully feeling very proud of this moment.
The foundations of the system of leasehold are about to be removed and the house of cards system built upon it will subsequently fall. Here’s to a bright future of true home ownership with Commonhold tenure at the helm. “Well done and thank you to all”.
Thanks for this, S
Great news that ground rents are being abolished on new leases.
As to the future:
1.Ground rents should be banned on lease extensions too. Often an owner gets a lease extension just before a sale so will agree to the landlord’s terms , and doesn’t care about passing on the ground rent to a buyer.
2.Reform estate rent charges as well, as otherwise the landowners will use rent charges to continue many of the bad practices associated with leasehold.
3. Make extending leases much simpler , based on a multiple of the ground rent, and set a fixed fee for the landlord’s legal charges.
4.Set up a procedure to force landlord’s lender’s to accept the lease extensions.
5. We are not keen on the commonhold system for tiny developments, for example two maisonettes. Many people will not be able to deal with the company law requirements and we will see companies being struck off, which causes massive problems. A simpler set up is needed for small blocks of flats.
6. End the threat of forfeiture both with residential leaseholds and estate rent-charges.
7. Commonholds will not become the new norm without a massive training programme for conveyancers, lenders, managing agents, estate agents, and surveyors so thought needs to be given to a publicity campaign for professionals as soon as possible.
I’ll believe it only when the final legislation is passed. This government has an unfortunate track record of ignoring reports, pledging wonderful ideas with no intention of ever implementing, etc
Curious on those ‘notes to editors’, “A freeholder owns both the property and the land it stands on while leaseholders only own the property.”
Was that from the Government press release, because it’s not actually true, is it? A leaseholder only really has the right to occupy the property.
I noticed that James. It could only be a cut and paste from somewhere, LKP are fully aware of the status of leaseholders, they are tenants (of both the land and the property) for a fixed number of years.
I know what you mean, but there is no specific law to support either proposition. The underlying established law is that land cannot be owned ‘absolutely’ by anyone, due to its uniquely important nature. This should be turned to advantage: Rather than us being defensive about not owning the housing sold to us, more of us should point out (e.g. to Land Registrars) that we own important overriding legal interests in the common parts of our development – more so than the developer after it has sold the housing to us.
(In our case, the developer pretended to sell the freehold to a third party, then denied its covenants. Registrars ignored my objections and processed the transfer. I won a court case, eventually, to enforce the covenants. This caused the defendant to magically reverse the land transfer. and inform HM Registrars. I continue the ‘ownership’ argument with Registrars, over the common parts, because we do not want to go through all this again. So far, they reject my applications for a restriction on the freehold title. We cannot enfranchise because there are only three maisonettes – technically ‘flats’ in our development. The rest are houses, although some have public rights of way beneath them. Garages beneath the maisonettes have been sold to people who live elsewhere, so that they cannot get separate buildings insurance. Hardly the end of the world compared to other people’s property troubles, but it has taught me some interesting legal points).
Well done LKP! I just want to say thank you for your tireless efforts which are beginning to bear real fruit. Ever since ‘buying’ a leasehold flat in 2014 and turning myself into a squeezeable asset class for an offshore freehold investor i have followed your journey. Thank you for everything you do for us Leaseholders!
Dear Mr…. “A Conveyencer”
Just tell me why leaseholders should pay a multiple of the ground rent and the landlords legal fees?
Don’t you think that leaseholders have given enough to these people whoever they may be, the fact is this idea of having to pay again to get rid of these parasites is similar to paying a mugger after having fleeced his victim then asking him to pay for not taking his shoes!
Not only should there be no charges for leaseholders to regain what is theirs in the first place… there should be compensation as well!
Mr Lloyd,
I agree with you in principle. It reminds me of when the UK compensated slave owners 200 years ago.
However in practice I expect some compensation is the best way to get the reform through and perhaps head off the comical notion that the ground rent sharks’ human rights are being infringed. .
Dear Mr A. Conveyancer….
You are on our side… good..
To draw another parralell, this ground rent leasehold system of paying someone unknown through an intermediary is very similar to the way blackmailers work, ie, demand money with threats via a freehold company, but these scoundrels have over the years made it an art form and coerced lawmakers into legalising it.
IE….LEGALISED BLACKMAIL !!!
What I still do not understand is why there has been no mention of identifying who these freehold owners are, in my opinion there should be a rule that any payments can only be made if the identity of the those who benefit is given, many of whom I am told are living in sunnier climates.
And as for the notion that freeholders human rights are infringed, I agree with you entirely, it is a joke…the most ironic situation ever! when you have people who are intent on taking advantage of others with a totally unjust system, with no regard for the elderly, sick, or those who will be financially stretched purchasing a house, and then these leeches use their low life lawyers to extract the maximum they can, it is absolutley the most disgusting way in which to carry out what cannot in all honesty be called a ‘business’ !
Now I am told one well known housebuilder has threatened to put up prices because the leasehold system is coming to a close, well to be honest I would sooner pay more to be free of these animals.
I have to say that there is also a bonus for the building trade in my case in particular, I want to have some alterations to my house, but need permission, I don’t know how much it will cost but last time I contacted the freeholder he would not talk to me without using a solicitor, and what with the reputation they have for charging whatever they want for their blessed permission, they can stick it ! otherwise a builder would have some business to do.
Lets hope this year sees the end of this dirty trade.
What about permission fees? If a leaseholder chooses to extend his lease to 990 years and in doing so ground rent stops, surely the twats (pardon my French) will exploit permission fees to make up for loss of ground rent income.
I can see no mention of Local Authority or Housing Association leaseholds; and what about properties built on Trust land? I and my neighbours wasted thousands of pounds on legal fees trying to buy the freehold from our Local Authority. We gave up because they wanted huge compensation (10 times the formula value) for “loss of development potential” for the building, although there is no indication that they ever intend to develop. They would not sell the land because it was donated in trust to the local authority in 1900. Our ground rents are low, but we have been continuosly overcharged for management fees and maintenance. I commend the LKP for their good work, but I am not optimistic that all of these reforms will actually happen, or benefit me.
Sadly, it doesn’t mention any reform of the calculations used to arrive at the cost to LHs for extending their lease – or the fact that the cost can escalate massively once the remaining lease drops below 80 years… not long if you bought a new-build on a 99-year lease, which many are!
These reforms are down to the unremitting work of LKP. Thanks to Sebastian and Martin and lets watch closely for the detailed legislation as our rights are still in need of ‘care and protection’ until the Act goes through. Now is the time to increase our vigilance.
Cheers
Shula
Reading all the comments listed , and statements made, about what the “Currant Law” is regarding extending the lease, and NOT having to pay any ground rent, ( possible having to pay a token Peppercorn ground rent ), don’t ring true!!!!
Reasons being, I bought a ground floor flat on retirement on the understanding the Lease would be extended and a peppercorn ground rent put in place, as part of the sale, the lease was extended by 185 years, but the ground rent was not removed.
I was told by the “Managers who collect the rip off Maintenance Fees” The freeholder, who they will not divulge to me, has stated, that I still have to pay what was £75, but now increased to £254, indefinitely. My solicitors will only look into the sale of the flat and my paying of ground rent, for yet another fee!!!!!!!!
So, “Is it Current Law” that I should not be paying ground rent, and attempt to get it reimbursed or just except the situation as “YOU CANNOT WIN” pay it, and don’t waste any more time, effort and cash?????
Replying to James Beeden…
I can’t give you an answer to your question but I do feel sorry that this sort of thing happens to ordinary decent people, I can understand your frustration and if it were me, justified anger.
*******perhaps one of our LKP administrators would advise******
However it seems to me that there must be a clause in the original agreement or covenant of the lease which gives the freeholder the right to do this rotten thing and if that is the case then as you rightly say you are better off just paying up and don’t waste any more time and money.
On the other hand there is hope that current leaseholders will benefit from the impending legislation………. we as Serfs can only wait till the scraps fall from our masters table.
These are major important changes but my wife and I live on a retirement establishment at Ashcombe Court, Ilminster which has 31 properties , This is managed by Cognatum and fortunately we do have to pay a ground rent and there is more than 120 Yrs left on the lease so we are not affected by the changes. I would ,however, like to see other changes in the bill as the managements have a monopoly of power regarding maintenance expenditure which is financed by the homeowners without there approval in our situation, as the consultation process is a farce .Example: The cost of refurbishing the driveways has increased from £30,000 to £80,000 without any apparent reason . They seem to be in good working condition . No potholes etc I have repeatedly sought an explanation in emails .Have requested sight of a condition report and have suggested a second opinion without any success
The maintenance expenditure is taken from an an accumulated reserve fund so I would expect the annual contributions to this fund to reduce when there are maintenance delays due to the present virus but they continue to rise . A £35.000 cost has been delayed by 2Yrs and a further £96,000 is delayed by 1 Yr
Thank you LKP and everyone already mentioned who tirelessly campaigned and continue to fight to change the law. As a resident freeholder, there seems to be a greater legal protection for someone flytipping than for the unfair parasitical charge called estate rent charge.
The sooner the likes of Firstport are not made to enjoy being con merchants the better for our sanity.