Lowena Homes/E & J Estates Ground Rent/Lease Issues in Cornwall

mistertee1970 · 14 August 2018 at 12:51PM

Hi
I would be interested in hearing from anyone who bought a property from Lowena Homes/The New Homes Company in Cornwall in or around 2008/2009/2010 and did so with the help of their ‘help to buy’ type scheme. I would be particularly interested to hear from anyone who has tried to have the additional ground rent in their lease removed and also from anyone who used the solicitors recommended to them by Lowena Homes when they purchased their property.
Basically, as I used their help to buy scheme when I purchased my apartment in St Austell, I was loaned my deposit by the developers to be paid back within 10 years interest free, so they own a second charge on the property. But I was also advised at the time that as I was buying the property through this scheme I would have to pay an additional monthly ground rent of £70 per month along with the usual quarterly ground rent of £50 per quarter. I was advised that this was all perfectly normal. I was being advised by their in-house financial advice and legal team to 'make the purchase easier and less stressful'.which, as this was my first purchase, was so I thought, a great help to me. So I was led to believe by them that this additional ground rent was purely to do with the help to buy scheme.
But what I have subsequently discovered recently when I have now come to try and sell the property is that what Lowena Homes, their in-house advisors or their in-house solicitors neglected to say or highlight to me was that this additional ground rent charge would then be written in to the lease, so it would then be passed on to any future owners of the property!
I have subsequently had 2 potential sales fall through and no one will now touch it with a barge-pole due to this clause in the lease, which was only written in as I was using the help to buy scheme, so surely future purchasers of the property should not be penalised as a result?
Lowena Homes/The New Homes Company have since ceased to exist (surprise surprise), a former associate inherited the second charge and the freehold on the apartment block was sold on to E&J Estates. (And as far as I am aware was not offered for sale to any of the leaseholders).
This issue has since been raised with both the person who has taken over the second charge and E & J Estates but, quelle surprise, it seems to be falling on deaf ears. I am currently seeking legal advice and there are a number of options we can take but my solicitor also suggested I put some feelers out to see if there's anyone else out there in a similar situation to myself, hence this post. And if someone reading this did a similar thing back then and is currently unaware of this issue they may have inherited, my advice to you is check your lease!