‘Not brilliant entrepreneurialism and wealth creation to leg over a 79-year-old pensioner’ – LKP
The case of Trevor Nowell, 79, the former head teacher, 79, who paid £38,000 to buy the freehold on his £320,000 Taylor Wimpey house was published in the Telegraph yesterday.
‘Our freehold cost £38,000 – now we’re being denied compensation’
Leaseholders facing spiralling ground rents were given some relief earlier this year when Taylor Wimpey scrapped its unfair terms – but those who had already paid high costs for their freehold have been left out in the cold.
Mr Nowell and his wife, Margaret, whose home is in Oakdale Drive, Whalley, Clitheroe, were facing spiralling ground rents, which would have risen from £295 a year to £9,440 a year over 50 years.
Pensioner paid £38,000 for Taylor Wimpey freehold to ground rent speculators E&J Capital Partners
“It feels like a real rip-off but they had us over a barrel so we accepted,” Mr Nowell tells Sam Brodbeck, of the Telegraph.
“In addition to buy-out costs for the freehold on their Lancashire home, they had to stump up £4,000 in legal fees.
Under rules set out in the 1967 Leasehold Act the right to “enfranchisement” also requires homeowners to pay the freeholder’s legal and valuation fees. Leaseholders normally have the right to buy freeholds two years after the property purchase.
Taylor Wimpey had sold the freehold on the Nowells’ home to James Tuttiett’s Winchester-based E&J Capital Partners for just £8,000 three years previously.
A spokesman for E&J, which owns 40,000 leases, told the Telegraph that the nearly five-fold increase in its price had been driven by falling interest rates.
It also washes its hands of any responsibility for ripping off the pensioners: once the enfranchisement process had begun it was “compelled” to sell the freehold to the leaseholder by law.
It was not compelled to dream up an inflated sum for it, however.
For current leaseholders, Taylor Wimpey will convert the existing leases into ones with more reasonable terms. Mr Nowell said the reason he bought the freehold was to avoid the soaring ground rents, and now feels like he has overpaid unnecessarily.
“I think Taylor Wimpey should be treating us as they have or are going to with current leaseholders,” said Mr Nowell. “They should compensate us for the difference in value between the old and new leases.”
Sebastian O’Kelly, of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership charity, was quoted saying: “With the lease altered to ground rents linked to inflation, Mr Nowell would have been in a position to buy the freehold for far less than he did.”
The full statement from LKP was:
“If Trevor Nowell, 79, had not paid out £38,000, plus £4,000 in his and the freeholder’s legal costs, he would now be eligible for the Taylor Wimpey ground rent review scheme.
“With the lease altered to ground rents linked to RPI, he would have been in a position to buy the freehold for far less than he did from the speculators who now own it, E & J Capital Partners.
“Neither Taylor Wimpey nor E & J Capital Partners think they have any responsibility to Mr Nowell.
“This is outrageous. Taylor Wimpey cheated Mr Nowell, and thousands of others – it absolutely refuses to say how many – by dreaming up doubling ground rents which mortgage lenders will not lend on.
“It is time for the Communities Select Committee to summons Taylor Wimpey, other housebuilders and the murky ground rent speculators to explain their role in turning ordinary people’s homes into investment cash cows.
“Mr Nowell has been badly treated and neither company accepts any responsibility. But it is not a brilliant display of wealth creation and imaginative entrepreneurialism to leg over a 79-year-old pensioner in this fashion.”
Related posts:
Pensioner paid £38,000 for Taylor Wimpey freehold to ground rent speculators E&J Capital Partners
Countryside Properties plc deal to buy back freeholds turns spotlight on Taylor Wimpey, BBC told
Taylor Wimpey has paid out only £11.2m of the supposed £130m to sort the doubling ground rent scam
Adriatic Land now wants £54,000 for my freehold that Taylor Wimpey said would cost £6,000
E&J Capital Partners ‘compelled’ to sell freehold to Taylor Wimpey house to pensioner for £38,000 (plus £4,000 costs)
MailOnline reports blighted houses of St Mary Magdalene and Holy Jesus Trust
“A spokesman for E&J, which owns 40,000 leases, told the Telegraph that the nearly five-fold increase in its price had been driven by falling interest rates.”
I really do expect something more sophisticated and more abstruse than this, what about “Coffee future derivatives when cross indexed against copper forwards have materially affected the resale value of freeholds, hence the five fold increase. . We at E & J Estates are at the mercy of market imperatives.”
The statement does lack sophistication, it is however abstruse – how do falling interest rates justify the equivalent of a seventy per cent compound interest rate per year (which is what they have achieved on the purchase of freehold and subsequent sale to Mr Nowell)?. I will send an email to E & J Estates requesting clarification. (do not) Watch this space (as I will not get a response).
Here s to the wealth creators and to the charitable organisations feeding off the blood of English leaseholders and Tenants. We are all very proud of you and we welcome you with tax incentives.
Hey, come on people we can stop this Injustice, but we have to hang together..
1. Why would these ground rent portfolio merchants buy the the Freehold titles of residential properties if the rewards were not great?
2 . The Right Hon Sajid Javid has stated that he promises to reduce ground rents to “ Zero or peppercorn ‘. Good. But we all know that a promise is a comfort to a fool. DON’ T WE ?
3. We are on the right road folks but the apathy out there is very dispiriting. There has been much sturm Und Drang from leaseholders on LKP/ NLC/ HORnet relating to the great injustices in Leasehold and the venal nefarious practices of Rogue Managing Agents. WHERE ARE YOUR SIGNATURES ON THE ONLINE PETITION? WHY HAVE YOU NOT SIGNED? Where the hell are you?
ACTION is one step closer to JUSTICE, Don’t expect others to fight your battle when we have given you the armoury to fight it with us.
Those of you who complain about the status quo but can’t be bothered to sign an online petition should hang their heads in utter shame and SHUT THE HELL UP.!
SIGN THE PETITION. APATHY IS A CRIME.
Hi Kim,
All power to you, and your redoubtable energy.
I’ve signed the petition (of course!) … however, it’s a bit difficult to find.
Hopefully this link will work, but if not, could you post something that does.
http://chn.ge/2hLSJDB
Many Thanks
Hi Susan
Excellent that you have signed the petition and I hope you are sharing it with all you know. I am surprised that it’s difficult to find but I will relay your comment and link to Katie Kendrick who is the founder of NLC and originator of the petition..
I’ m the Chief Whip ( self appointed) !!
The problem is that because leasehold is such a complex issue and the various acts so god damn perplexing, it s difficult to get popular support.
I took my case to a tribunal and it was quite obvious that the judge and the barrister had opposing views as to the interpretation of the law. They kept arguing and were at each other’s throats, ignoring that someone like me actually lives here- every day. It was farce actually listening to them, it would have been funny, if I wasn’t the one paying for e barrister, the surveyor(s) the retarded managing agent (s)…. which are beyond words.
Ultimately I paid for everyone and simply could not afford to continue paying, Technically, i even paid for the judge because I am the one who pays taxes full whack. The freeholder, (who apparently lived in Israel, and never showed up) is unlikely to have ever contributed anything.
Its impossible for the average person to understand Leasehold, even the professional doesn’t really understand it.
I’m sure everyone reading LKP reports will have signed but good on you Kim for repeatedly banging the drum. When you Google leasehold petition there are a load of defunct links which is confusing for some.
As has been said I think most tenants are so bamboozled by leasehold law and service charges that they despair and believe nothing can be changed.
They are afraid of adversely affecting their resale value, afraid of appearing stupid because they don’t understand what is going on and have lives to lead.
The status quo and vested lobby including Sir Terence Etherington, LEASE, DCLG, etc know the power of fear when they relate change to the unknown unknowns.
All I know is the known known is that unregulated service charges and feudal leasehold law is not fit for purpose in a fair democratic society.
Hey joe,
You are my kinda guy. I cannot disagree with a word you have said.
I shall repeatedly bang the drum until I beat Leaseholders into ACTION.
Katie and others have been daily multiple re-tweeting and re-facebooking the petition since the start (me too but only on twitter myself).
The catch with the interweb and antisocial media is unless someone is on these platforms (I know the jargon, innit) and following somebody or checking the related hashtags, all the effort in the world will go unnoticed.
I’d hazard a jam sandwich of your choice that the leaseholders who visit even LKP are low compared to the four million leaseholders. I could be wrong…
The leaseholder forum what where I spend too much of my life never mentions any campaigning (I have, mind) and the regulars either seem unimpressed that anything will change or they seem to defend leasehold.
If they aren’t reading, you can’t reach them. It’s not like the Field of Dreams, sadly.
Still don’t think a petition is the main weapon. Even if it got a 100K signatures there would be no more pressure on the government than 4K. They ignore loads of huge petitions. Just have a wee natter in the House.
If the government want to meaningfully reform leasehold they can start by supporting Justin Madders’ bill which I’m assuming is the APPG’s. It doesn’t empty the whole swamp, but it is a grand start.
I’ve stopped checking the petition but it was climbing slow and steady.
Dear Paddy
I do take your point re the petition not being the “Main Weapon”:however It is my understanding that it was started in order to be the “Cherry on the cake” of the excellent NLC Campaign and to be presented at or around the conclusion of the latest 6/week Consultation on Regulation for Managing Agents / Leasehold reform.
To date the petition is just short of 4,000 signatures. I shall keep on “Whipping”