By Aran Dhillon, Local Democracy Reporter
David Wilson Homes has been accused of mis-selling properties in Chapelford RESIDENTS trapped in the leasehold scandal are willing to go to court if their demands for fairness are not met. Leaseholders were boosted last year after confirmation that four house-builders were being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority over the way leaseholds were sold. They were Barratt Developments, Countryside Properties, Persimmon Homes and Taylor Wimpey. Leasehold ownership, most commonly found in flats, means purchasing a property for the duration of a usually long-term lease rather than owning it outright. Mike Carroll, who lives on Steinbeck Grange in Chapelford, is among those affected by the scandal on what residents say is a collective issue.
Merseyside homeowners warned over housing system changes
The new rules would affect around 182,000 homeowners
The new rules would affect around 182,000 homeowners (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
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The end of toxic leaseholds has been announced by the Government - much to the delight of long-suffering homeowners.
Housing minister Robert Jenrick said the new laws are being introduced to banish the scandalous pitfalls of leasehold and put fairness back at the heart of the housing system .
The changes have been widely welcomed as good news for leaseholders, who have long endured issues such as doubling ground rent and extortionate costs to extend their leases.
New legislation: The end of toxic leasehold homes has been announced by the Government
WHAT IS A LEASEHOLD PROPERTY?
A leasehold property has some key differences compared to a freehold home.
By Joey Gardiner2021-01-07T11:18:00+00:00
Housing secretary plans to abolish ground rents and introduce “commonhold” tenure
The government is pushing ahead with long-awaited reforms to the leasehold system which will make it impossible for developers and freeholders to impose swingeing ground rents on leasehold residents.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said the new system, brought in as part of the government’s response to the leasehold homes scandal – in which buyers of new-build houses were asked to pay large ground rents which doubled every 10 years – will see leaseholders given the right to extend their leases at zero ground rent.
Currently, leasehold house owners can only extend their leases by a maximum of 50 years, and cannot alter the ground-rent terms.
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.
Robert Jenrick said his attempt to make it cheaper and simpler for leaseholders to buy their properties is the biggest property law reform since Margaret Thatcher’s right-to-buy revolution in the 1980s.
Ground rents will be scrapped for millions with a new right to extend leases to 990 years. They will also be reduced to zero on all new retirement homes.
The Government said the changes ‘could save households from thousands to tens of thousands of pounds’.