Leasehold reform proposals could save homeowners £1,000s - MSE News

[Deleted User]

The whole Leasehold system is appauling and I would say it is only in recent years that the cash cow has really been milked. Years ago ground rents were peppercorn paid to absent Freeholders who you never heard from. You never saw Leashold as a problem.

These days a whole industry has built up to fleece Leaseholders of as much money as possible . Freeholders, managing agents, builders, surveyors, insurance, solicitors, tribunals etc all want their pound of flesh. Where else could you be demanded of a sum of money equivalent to a family car on demand and be at risk of forfeiture of your home if you can't pay it.

Our Freehold was sold on and the first thing the new one did was appoint aggressive Managing agents and redo all the works we had previously paid £12k for saying the quiality of work was inadequate.

Our managing agents were so aggressive and bullying with their contstant demands for money my neighbour was driven to a nervous breakdown, the last straw being when they threatned to break in to carry out a survey on demand to a part of the property they were not allowed access to without prior warning. We were threatened that the locksmith would break in at 12midday and we would have to pay over £500 for his services so it was in our interests to open the door. As it was I had to pay to get a solicitors letter warning them off and quoting the Lease which they hadnt understood.

We then had to go the stressful route of a right to manage but that isnt without its problems, the process is expensive and complex. I have no experience or desire to run a limited company but as one neighbour has mental problems and the other is uninterested I have no choice. I cannot wait to sell my flat but until the Lease is extended or Freehold bought which I cannot afford i am stuck with it.

To buy a Leasehold is the absolute worst decision I have ever made in my entire adult life.

GDB2222

BBH123 wrote: »

The whole Leasehold system is appauling and I would say it is only in recent years that the cash cow has really been milked. Years ago ground rents were peppercorn paid to absent Freeholders who you never heard from. You never saw Leashold as a problem.

These days a whole industry has built up to fleece Leaseholders of as much money as possible . Freeholders, managing agents, builders, surveyors, insurance, solicitors, tribunals etc all want their pound of flesh. Where else could you be demanded of a sum of money equivalent to a family car on demand and be at risk of forfeiture of your home if you can't pay it.

Our Freehold was sold on and the first thing the new one did was appoint aggressive Managing agents and redo all the works we had previously paid £12k for saying the quiality of work was inadequate.

Our managing agents were so aggressive and bullying with their contstant demands for money my neighbour was driven to a nervous breakdown, the last straw being when they threatned to break in to carry out a survey on demand to a part of the property they were not allowed access to without prior warning. We were threatened that the locksmith would break in at 12midday and we would have to pay over £500 for his services so it was in our interests to open the door. As it was I had to pay to get a solicitors letter warning them off and quoting the Lease which they hadnt understood.

We then had to go the stressful route of a right to manage but that isnt without its problems, the process is expensive and complex. I have no experience or desire to run a limited company but as one neighbour has mental problems and the other is uninterested I have no choice. I cannot wait to sell my flat but until the Lease is extended or Freehold bought which I cannot afford i am stuck with it.

To buy a Leasehold is the absolute worst decision I have ever made in my entire adult life.

Delighted to hear that you went the RTM route. That's what it is there for.

[Deleted User]

There is no delight in it at all tbh its an option that is all.

This legalised extortion needs to stop, people talk about Freeholders right to have return on investment but what about all the retrospective monies they have made over the previous years.

If their hadnt been riches to be made Freeholders wouldnt have bought and those riches have come from Leaseholders, people who thought they were buying a home have been totally shafted.

An Englishman's castle is his home , not true when the castle is owned by a Freeholder.

GDB2222

BBH123 wrote: »

There is no delight in it at all tbh its an option that is all.

This legalised extortion needs to stop, people talk about Freeholders right to have return on investment but what about all the retrospective monies they have made over the previous years.

If their hadnt been riches to be made Freeholders wouldnt have bought and those riches have come from Leaseholders, people who thought they were buying a home have been totally shafted.

An Englishman's castle is his home , not true when the castle is owned by a Freeholder.

It sounds as though your original freeholder was fine. Things only changed after it was sold on. The legislation protected you, so I still don't know what you want changed and why? Sure, you are having to see to the maintenance yourself, but what would you prefer? If you had commonhold, for example, you'd be in exactly the same position. Commonhold does not come with a fairy godmother to see to the maintenance free of charge.

simondv

"The Legislation protected you"

The point is the the existing legislation does not protect leaseholders, and was recently described by Nick Hopkins of the Law Commission as not fit for purpose. I gave some examples in a previous comment. Martin Paine is one example of a freeholder, who has exploited leasehold law to the maximum at great expense and distress to leaseholders. You will find his exploits on Google so is already public knowledge.

Sapphire

BBH123 wrote: »

The whole Leasehold system is appauling and I would say it is only in recent years that the cash cow has really been milked. Years ago ground rents were peppercorn paid to absent Freeholders who you never heard from. You never saw Leashold as a problem.

These days a whole industry has built up to fleece Leaseholders of as much money as possible . Freeholders, managing agents, builders, surveyors, insurance, solicitors, tribunals etc all want their pound of flesh. Where else could you be demanded of a sum of money equivalent to a family car on demand and be at risk of forfeiture of your home if you can't pay it.

Our Freehold was sold on and the first thing the new one did was appoint aggressive Managing agents and redo all the works we had previously paid £12k for saying the quiality of work was inadequate.

Our managing agents were so aggressive and bullying with their contstant demands for money my neighbour was driven to a nervous breakdown, the last straw being when they threatned to break in to carry out a survey on demand to a part of the property they were not allowed access to without prior warning. We were threatened that the locksmith would break in at 12midday and we would have to pay over £500 for his services so it was in our interests to open the door. As it was I had to pay to get a solicitors letter warning them off and quoting the Lease which they hadnt understood.

We then had to go the stressful route of a right to manage but that isnt without its problems, the process is expensive and complex. I have no experience or desire to run a limited company but as one neighbour has mental problems and the other is uninterested I have no choice. I cannot wait to sell my flat but until the Lease is extended or Freehold bought which I cannot afford i am stuck with it.

To buy a Leasehold is the absolute worst decision I have ever made in my entire adult life.

I'd agree with everything you say – except to state that with older leases, such as mine (late-Victorian maisonette), concocted decades ago, this issue does not exist. My lease runs for about another 200 years, and there is no ground rent or other charges to pay. I look after any work that needs to be done in my maisonette and in general on the ground floor. The freeholder's grandfather cleverly bought these maisonettes and three others in the row decades ago, before 'property speculation as a business' existed to the extent it does now, and lived in one of them. She rents out the upstairs maisonette, and takes care of work affecting the upper floor. The way this works is clearly set out in the lease.

I think older properties may tend to have leases like this (I know several other people with similar leases). The issues raised here do appear to be a recent problem related particularly to new builds (which I would never buy), and property speculation by wealthy corporations and individuals, often not even based in Britain.

It's all pretty disgusting, and I agree that all leaseholds should be abolished.

pepita

When I bought my flat which was a 4 bed roomed semi detached house in London (3 bedrooms are extremely large), separate bathroom and toilet.
The lease was 999 years, with a £1 per year ground rent. - extremely large back garden.
The person who owns the ground floor owns the freehold, but at the number of years, I will have no problem selling.
I was very lucky to stumble upon it in 1989@£39,000.00

Thanks for your answer. Let's hope I am as lucky as you have!!!

Tony_bikr

I was misled despite being told I could buy my freehold within five years the freehold was sold without me knowing to a faceless freeholder within six months of the purchase of my house

A very very angry Anthony Baker

75REVOR

Everyone remotely concerned about the fleece hold system of home 'ownership' should contact their MP and make your point. So far 145 MPs have joined the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform (APPG)
It's purpose:
To examine the complex, antiquated legal matrix governing leasehold tenure in England; analyse the effects of investigatory powers by Government and regulatory bodies within the leasehold sector on protecting leaseholders from exploitation; explore how our current leasehold laws and systems can be improved and the implementation of commonhold tenure, as it is intended.

The more MPs that are made aware of this vile system and get it abolished the better. Go one further and lobby all the TV property presenter folk such Kevin McCloud, Phil Spencer, Kirstie Allsop, George Clarke et al.... They have tremendous clout to the wider public for awareness.

While you are about it join the NLC (National Leasehold Campaign) and the 16,000+ and counting already there.

dnees

GDB2222 wrote: »

It sounds as though your original freeholder was fine. Things only changed after it was sold on. The legislation protected you, so I still don't know what you want changed and why? Sure, you are having to see to the maintenance yourself, but what would you prefer? If you had commonhold, for example, you'd be in exactly the same position. Commonhold does not come with a fairy godmother to see to the maintenance free of charge.

When commonhold is more widely used, and it will be. Common holders will not be cash cows for a leech of a freeholder landlord. Commonholders get to decide how their money will be spent and how much of it is spent. Commonholders own their flat and part of the ground it sits on, leaseholders have had quite enough of being exploited and bled dry thanks very much!