Earlier this year residents in Arkendale informed HRRA of the increased ground rent demands which had been received by leaseholders who own apartments there.
HRRA members explained that whilst they could not intervene in contractual matters they supported residents efforts in questioning the demands and we wrote to the relevant government department expressing our concerns.
The attached letter has now been received from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities which sets out the current situation with leasehold reform.
The letter refers to an inquiry which the Consumer and Markets Authority (CMA) previously undertook . The CMA has now been commissioned to undertake a further inquiry into housing which will cover the experiences of customers buying property, including quality and management arrangements. HRRA are hoping to feed the experiences of purchasers on High Royds into the inquiry. We have now written to the CMA asking if they will accept evidence from HRRA and await their response.
It is hoped the the CMA will in due course report to government and advise on potential legislative and/or regulatory changes to improve the customer experience for future housing developments. Whilst this will not benefit owners on High Royds directly, we consider we have a great deal of valuable feedback to offer, given our experiences over the last 16 years.
Levelling Up letter
From: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
To: High Royds Residents Association Committee
Date: Apr 2023
Thank you for your email of 29 January regarding leaseholder ground rent
legislation. I have been asked to reply and apologise for the delay in response.
The Govemment is committed to creating a housing system that works for everyone.
Leasehold and commonhold reform supports our mission to level up home ownership
by addressing the power imbalance at the heart of the leasehold system.
We understand that some leaseholders have suffered, and face difficulties with
resale or mortgage issues as a result of high and escalating ground rents. Unfair
practices have no place in the housing market and the Government is committed to
ending them. We want to see homeowners who have been affected obtain the
justice and redress they deserve. This is why we asked the Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the
leasehold sector.
The CMA have secured commitments benefiting over 20,000 leaseholders. In 2021,
commitments were secured from Aviva, Countryside Properties and Taylor Wimpey, to return doubling ground rent terms to original rates and from Persimmon to support
leasehold house owners to buy their freehold at the original price quoted. In 2022,
commitments were secured from 15 landlords who bought freeholds from
Countryside Properties and nine companies who bought freeholds from Taylor Wimpey.
These commitments will remove doubling ground rents terms for their leaseholders
and revert charges to original rates. A further four national developers – Crest
Nicholson, Redrow, Miller Homes and Vistry – have also agreed to work with the
companies who purchased their freeholds to remove doubling terms.
The Government is taking forward a wido-ranging prograrnme of reform to end unfair
practices in the leasehold market. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act came
into force on 30 June 2022, which means that landlords will be prevented from
requiring a financial ground rent in most new residential leases. For existing
leaseholders, the Act means that any extended portion of a voluntary lease
extension cannot contain any requirement for a financial ground rent. We have
published guidance on this, which is available at http://www.qov.uk/guidance/leasehold-reform-ground-rent-act-2022. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
We have announced measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to buy their
freehold, or extend their lease, with significant discounts for those trapped with
onerous ground rents. We will also enable leaseholders, where they already have a
very long lease, to buy out the ground rent without the need to extend the term of the
lease should they wish to do this. We will empower leaseholders by making it simpler
and quicker to take over the management of their building, we will require
leaseholders to be given clearer information on what their costs pay for, and we will
improve their access to redress.
We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament and
details on the next bill will be published in due course. I regret that at this time, I am
not able to add further detail about the content or timing of future legislation.
The Department cannot provide legal advice on specific cases. However, free
information and advice is funded by the Department and provided by The Leasehold
Advisory Service (‘LEASE’). LEASE offers a comprehensive range of online
resources, as well as a telephone and email enquiry service. LEASE can be
contacted through their website http://www.lease-advice.orq, via telephone (020 7832
2500) or by email (info@lease-advice.org). The Department has also created a ‘How
to Lease’ guide that is available at:
www. gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-lease.
Once again, I appreciate how important this matter is to you and I am grateful to you
for contacting the department.
Yours sincerely,
Aidan Morrison
High Royds Residents' Association 