And sector offers up yet another ‘code of practice’, this time for freeholders (whoever they may be when hidden offshore) One of the greatest fictions of the leasehold sector is that freeholders – even anonymous offshore ones – are the only reliable long-term stewards of a block of flats. The leasehold owners would be incapable, […]
Communities Select Committee lifts the lid on the residential freehold racket
By Sebastian O’Kelly On Monday, MPs of the Communities Select Committee at last flushed out the developers and ground rent speculators who profit from turning ordinary families’ homes into long term investment assets. A murky sector that habitually hides behinds the courts, lawyers, lobbyists and trade bodies finally had to justify its practices and, indeed, […]
Long Harbour lobby MP Kate Osamor bars leasehold activist from Twitter feed
Corbynite Labour MP Kate Osamor, who asked a series of parliamentary questions on behalf of residential freehold fund Long Harbour, has barred a prominent leasehold activist from her Twitter feed. Baz Jafar, a doubling ground rent leaseholder, found he was blocked from his Edmonton MP’s official Twitter feed yesterday after raising the issue of the […]
Private Eye identifies yet another murky offshore landlord, Vuillard Holdings Limited, with Grenfell cladding
“Snakes and cladders” is Private Eye’s headline revealing Vuillard Holdings Limited as the latest landlord with Grenfell cladding on site. Owned by shy proprietors David and Patrick Kennedy, it owns the freehold of Victoria Wharf, two sites Limehouse in East London, where leaseholders have so far “been forced” to pay £165,000 for fire wardens. LKP […]
Kate Osamor MP asks parliamentary questions for Long Harbour on ground rents, says Daily Telegraph
Labour frontbencher Kate Osamor asking a series of parliamentary questions on behalf of ground rent speculators lifts the lid on lobbying for the sector. Miss Osamor, the shadow international development secretary, submitted six questions drafted by lobbyists Pagefield acting for the £1.6 billion Long Harbour fund, the Daily Telegraph has claimed. LKP has contacted Labour’s […]
Retirement housebuilders and speculators plead to be allowed ground rents in the Evening Standard
As government – and the Law Commission – reel from a barrage of special pleading by housebuilders over the government’s proposals to set ground rents as low as zero, their lobbying efforts were considered in London’s Evening Standard yesterday. It featured contributions from the soon-to-be-let-go CEO of McCarthy and Stone Clive Fenton and Spencer McCarthy, […]
Sesame Apartments: Yet another anonymous Long Harbour freeholder demanding £2.2 million over Grenfell cladding
Labour MP for Battersea Marsha De Cordova is championing the cause of leaseholders facing bills of thousands of pounds at Sesame apartments. She told the Commons yesterday: “Leaseholders are still being left in limbo about whether they will be footing the bill. “But it is not leaseholders who have failed to upgrade buildings or cut […]
Will Astor ‘tried to nobble reform of ground rents’, Daily Mail claims
The ground rent speculator – and former employee of Vincent Tchenguiz – Will Astor mounted an eleventh hour lobbying effort to derail reform of leasehold, reports the Daily Mail today. The Mail claims that the 38-year-old, who is the half brother-in-law of former prime minister David Cameron, hired London-based PR firm Pagefield through his £1.3 […]
Will Heysmoor Heights leaseholders lose their homes to anonymous offshore freeholder if they cannot pay Grenfell bills?
Will Astor asked whether he has beneficial interest in Abacus Land 4 Limited The anonymous world of offshore ownership in the leasehold sector is placed in sharp relief by families facing £18,000 demands to remove Grenfell cladding and pay for fire marshals at Heysmoor Heights, in Toxteth in Liverpool. The freeholder is Abacus Land […]
Taylor Wimpey and Long Harbour deal to defuse toxic lease scandal … after 11 months!
Taylor Wimpey and the anonymous speculators in the Long Harbour ground rent fund have agreed to vary double ground rent leases to ones linked to RPI, it was announced this afternoon. The announcement comes 11 months after LKP managed to get this issue to national attention. The deal has been extended by Long Harbour, whose […]
Ground Rents Income Fund plc offers help to leaseholders … in order to keep this grisly show on the road
The publicly quoted Ground Rents Income Fund plc says it will help some leaseholders with doubling ground rents. The initiative is a desperate effort to get government off its back and to ensure speculation in the freeholds of ordinary people’s homes can continue. Its statement is here 11 per cent of the fund, which has […]
Business Insider reports how easily developers get round ‘right of first refusal’
How a legal loophole allows British builders to transfer the ownership of flats into hands of hidden investors LONDON – A few words in a law designed to protect homeowners appear to have been used by major housebuilders to sell off freehold rights to investors, leaving the ultimate ownership of flats in the hands of […]
Guardian reports ‘breakthrough’ deal from Countryside … Pressure on Taylor Wimpey also to offer freeholds
Breakthrough in leasehold scandal as Countryside buys back freeholds Hopes of a breakthrough for householders trapped in the leasehold scandal are rising after a major developer agreed to buy back some freeholds and axe controversial ground rent clauses. Countryside Properties, which sold some of the freeholds on its houses to ground rent company E&J Estates, […]
The Sun attacks ‘fatcat’ housebuilders with inflated fortunes thanks to Help To Buy
Fatcat boss involved in leasehold scandal lives in one of his company’s newbuild homes A FATCAT boss involved in the leasehold scandal lives in one of his company’s newbuild homes. But he has avoided the rip-off ground rent fees that have ruined the lives of other homebuyers. Ted Ayres, chief executive of property giant Bellway, […]
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?
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? Boardwalk Finance DAC and Jetty Finance DAC, which share the same offices in Dublin, emerge as large scale owners of UK residential freeholds, according to the Guardian today. Jetty Finance DAC […]
Will Astor should come to meet leasehold house owners in Ellesmere Port
Will Astor, who manages the £1.2 billion Long Harbour fund in residential freeholds, should come to Ellesmere Port in Cheshire to meet the owners of leasehold houses, according to local Labour MP Justin Madders. Mr Madders issued the invitation at the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold reform on April 19. Many of the leasehold […]
