Fleecehold

[Blackjack Davy]

The lease was only 99 years when it was built. Was 92 when I bought it. Tbh I didn't know about the pitfalls of leasehold and it was the only way my ex and I could get on the ladder. And yes, I know all about the marriage value etc now, a bit too late mind.

The whole thing is a scam. What really baffles me is the housing association owns the other half so any sale makes them money. Surely if the lease running low creates a loss in value for them, why can't they just grant a lease extension? Obviously there's some ridiculous laws involved somewhere but it's a joke. I could sell it in the very near future I guess but again, I'd have to find somewhere I can afford in this area which isn't easy for a single dad.

99 year lease here too 1982 - 2081 so 58 years left on the lease. Just had to pay ground rent too pay-up-or-else letter arrived on teh doormat this morning for half-year payrment.

Do you not have the option of changing management companies?

If you can contact enough people and then get a majority to agree its been attempted here but nothing came of it too many properties rented out to buy-to-let landlords proving impossible to contact

 

[DB_SamX]

Do you not have the option of changing management companies?

No. From my last email exhcange, I can only tell them that i don't think I'm getting value for money and they'll apparently endeavour to review the relevant contract awards.

 

[mattyfez]

No. From my last email exhcange, I can only tell them that i don't think I'm getting value for money and they'll apparently endeavour to review the relevant contract awards.

Send them a Subject acess request.. it's a legally binding request, It likely won't give you the full picture, but it will let them know you are serious, and they can only charge you a maximum of £10 for the information, so it is standard practice to send a postal order for £10 along with the request (via special delivery, so probably another fiver on top), so they cannot make up excuses to delay things.

It will provide you with a starting point and some potentially usefull information going forward, especially if they fail to comply with the request in a timley manner.. I belive delay of any more than 30 working days would be considered a breach, and actionable in court, although a formal complaint to the ICO would be the next natural step should they fail to fully comply within 30 working days.

If nothing else, it will make them sweat and give them a lot of admin to do, so it puts a bit of pressure onto them.

How do I make a subject access request (SAR)? - Which?

You can make a subject access request if you want to access the personal data a company holds about you. This guide explains how to make one and what to include in your request.

www.which.co.uk

 

[Fiocca]

I didn't realise shared ownership was a thing back then. But I suppose 1992 was after the mega recession!

Have you asked them for a quote to extend the lease? Or buy the FH? Don't ask, don't get and all that. Whilst it is a bit of a calculation, it is more of an art than a science. Yes you can value an income (the ground rent) quite accurately, but the rest of it is theoretical based on comparables etc. so certainly more of an art - the job of the surveyors involved. I did one years ago for my dad with Peveral being the FH (utter utter you know whats) and I got a reasonable result in the end paying £5k all in (they wanted £15k but messed up and didn't respond to my notice). As they are "in bed" with you, they might treat you differently?

Sorry I meant it had 92 left years when I bought it. It was built in 2008-9 so actually it must have had a couple more years than I thought above.

But no, I haven't looked in to it in regards to cost because I'm really overwhelmed with life stuff as it is and even if it was only 5k, which I very much doubt, I don't know where I'd get that from.

Other issue I've just thought of is I fixed my mortgage for 5 years a year or so ago which means selling would add an erc to my fees I think. Thinking of it all is now making me feel even more overwhelmed.

 

[HungryHippos]

Other issue I've just thought of is I fixed my mortgage for 5 years a year or so ago which means selling would add an erc to my fees I think. Thinking of it all is now making me feel even more overwhelmed.

You can usually port a mortgage from current house to the next one you buy. It's only ERC if you end it early and stop paying it full stop.

 

[Fiocca]

You can usually port a mortgage from current house to the next one you buy. It's only ERC if you end it early and stop paying it full stop.

It's a shared ownership mortgage though, might be able to do something I guess if I stayed with the same lender. I should probably look into it all really, just don't have the headspace for it all at the moment.

 

[LeeUK]

Why are a lot of these management companies down as dormant companies on Companies House?

I know someone who lives on a newish estate that has a management company 'Xxxx Ltd' but it shows as dormant and has been ever since the estate was built 18 years ago. The letters the residents get that come asking for the money always state 'Yyyy Ltd' on behalf of 'Xxxx Ltd' where 'Yyyy Ltd' is the parent company of 'Xxxx Ltd'.

'Yyyy Ltd' also appear to be the parent company of another 100+ dormant companies.

 

[Goodie]

I'm not sure about dormant companies but it seems to be a new management company is set up per estate managed, rather than all falling under the same overall company.

 

[SeatIbiza]

99 year lease here too 1982 - 2081 so 58 years left on the lease. Just had to pay ground rent too pay-up-or-else letter arrived on teh doormat this morning for half-year payrment.


If you can contact enough people and then get a majority to agree its been attempted here but nothing came of it too many properties rented out to buy-to-let landlords proving impossible to contact

Oooft, that's going to be some cost to renew that lease...

 

[Semple]

Saw this article pop up on my Google feed this morning:

BREAKING: Ground Rents to be capped at £250 per year…

Leaseholders who pay ground rents are to have their levy capped at a maximum amount of £250 as Gove is forced to water down his radical proposals

www.landlordzone.co.uk

Suggests ground rents will be capped at 250 a year.

Hopefully this passes and becomes law, our recalculation for our ground rent is due in 2027, which i suspect will pass £250. It should help out lots of homeowners who have the doubling ground rent clauses.

 

[Stu999]

^^^ Good news. Doesn’t help with service charges but better than nothing.

 

[Semple]

^^^ Good news. Doesn’t help with service charges but better than nothing.

Yeah I can understand service charges being a bit more complicated because they're supposed to pay for maintenance of grounds, doors, lifts, etc and cleaning of communal areas. Ground rent pays for diddly squat.

I guess there will always be an element of service charges (dread to think what our old flat building would look like if they never had anyone cleaning the corridors ) - unfortunately in shared living areas I'm sure you'll have a number of people living there with no interest in cleaning/maintaining the building, so it's left to a professional service.

 

[drakioned]

Saw this article pop up on my Google feed this morning:

BREAKING: Ground Rents to be capped at £250 per year…

Leaseholders who pay ground rents are to have their levy capped at a maximum amount of £250 as Gove is forced to water down his radical proposals

www.landlordzone.co.uk

Suggests ground rents will be capped at 250 a year.

Hopefully this passes and becomes law, our recalculation for our ground rent is due in 2027, which i suspect will pass £250. It should help out lots of homeowners who have the doubling ground rent clauses.

I will believe it when I see it...

 

[dowie]

Hopefully this passes and becomes law, our recalculation for our ground rent is due in 2027, which i suspect will pass £250. It should help out lots of homeowners who have the doubling ground rent clauses.

Oh, I ought to check mine but it's been fixed at £175 for over a decade so it may well be completely moot for me.

 

[mattyfez]

It's a baby step in the right direction, but as said above, there should be much stricter rules on transparency and fairness for management fees...

I mean in some respects, it's appropriate the management company builds up a 'rainey day' fund for big jobs like roof repairs or whatever in the case of a shared building or block of flats, but there should be annual accounts published stating what has been spent on what, what's left over for emergencies, and also clearly stating what the management companies admin charges are.

 

[Semple]

Oh, I ought to check mine but it's been fixed at £175 for over a decade so it may well be completely moot for me.

Ours is recalculated every 15 years. Some calculation involving the RPI, not an obvious calculation, but I remember looking last year when RPI rocketed and if it had been recalculated then it would pretty much have doubled.

Ours is currently £200 a year, so it's some solace to know that regardless of what the next calculation works it out as, it's not going to tip over £250.

 

[subbytna]

You can set up yoru own management company can you not? I recall reading about someone who did this and cut their bills that way

 

[Mekrel]

You can set up a RTM company, but it typically requires more than half the leaseholders to sign up to it. There's some instances where you can't setup a RTM, but if they're not applicable to your situation and you have enough leaseholders, the freeholder can't do much about it. Although I believe you must offer a 'board position' to the freeholder.

The challenge is getting enough leaseholders to sign up to it. In my previous property, there were seven of us leaseholders and only two of us were pro-active in trying to improve the service we were getting from the management company. I sent a letter to our freeholder, signed by the seven of us that we wished for the management company to be changed to one I had found, otherwise we'll go down the RTM route. He obliged thankfully, as there definitely wouldn't have been the appetite to implement RTM - even if it's the version of RTM where you employ your own management company rather than managing it yourself.

 

[drakioned]

I feel like this is almost certainly going to be of interest to some here:

Petition: Create a new body to regulate service charges for residential property

Petition: Create a new body to regulate service charges for residential property

We want the Government to create a new body that is empowered to monitor and regulate private, council, and housing association service charges, and impose meaningful penalties for unfair or unreasonable service charges.

petition.parliament.uk

It passed 10k so theoretically the government should respond.

 

[VTR]

I own an apartment that is leasehold in South Wales. 7 years ago it was £100 a month, then £120 a month then £160. We said enough was enough after the 3rd increase and created our own management company. The lease now costs £75 a month, a lot more maintenance gets done properly, better cleaners are employed and the reserve fund has had enough money to replace all the balcony doors with the Windows being done in the next few years. Look in to it would be my advice, we have a few members who are on the board and the rest of us own equal shares then.