"It Will RUIN Your Life!" - Leaseholder Says She Is Being "SCREWED" By Landlord's Extortionate Fees
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2023
- Jeremy Kyle investigates the UK’s property problems, as Britain is labelled one of the worst housing crises in Europe.
Leaseholders Henry Scoffin and Anna Scoffin tell young people not to buy a leasehold property, after they were charged extortionate fees by their landlord.
“It will ruin your life! I’m terrified on the one hand and extremely angry on the other… why should I have to sell my property when I’m being screwed?”
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Would never buy a leasehold property, cant understand why people do. Leasehold should be banned.
A long lease is fine
@@RonanTOC Not when they can raise the service charges and ground rent when they want
Every apartment is leashold
@@nowgrownup In the UK that is not always the case
@@pcat1378old leases don't have service charges and the ground rent is usually less than a pound....myn for example is a house built in the 1870s, been well looked after, has 850 years left on the lease and the ground rent is 50p a year with no ground rent review or no service charges. It's new lease hold property's that you need to be careful of.
ALWAYS go freehold. Leasehold is the biggest con.
Someone HAS to own them though, 5million homes have to have owners, who are they going to sell them too if no one buys?
That's the deluded answer of someone who has never been abroad. Leasehold just doesn't exist in the normal rest of the world, I wonder how do they do it? Who owns the land? How complicated!
The freeholder owns the land ! They hit with you with a tough contract with all sorts of clauses on ground rent, service charges, you can not change anything without their permission ( I changed my mortgage and was charged £50 by the scum freeholders) Solicitors just treat it all as normal !!!!@@jimbojimbo6873
@@albertodejuan6104 But many people who can’t leave the country often only have a choice between leasehold or renting as they can’t afford a house. What’s so hard to understand about that?
@@albertodejuan6104 the fact it exists here doesn't imply people or should I say sheeple should comply with it, let alone go for it...
Bottom line is:
People have choices, people have options.
When I started looking to buy on my own I was initially drawn to a flat. I thought as a single person it would be ideal - why do I need a 3 bedroom house afterall? Glad I dodged that bullet with the leasehold and got a house anyway. Service charges are criminal.
never buy a leasehold flat unless you also own a share of the freehold of the building (which is a thing). never buy a leasehold house full stop
That is totally untrue . In my experience a landlord who runs the maintenance and looks after the building and repairs is worth his weight in gold to the tyranny of freehold committees wh fewd and can never agree and fall out over every thing.
@@grahambarlow1308I agree totally. A responsible freeholder is far better than an unfair, stingy management committee.
There's absolutely no need for a leasehold property at all.
@@Stefanski30100 How would you propose to deal with maintenance of common areas then? Needs to be some legal framework, no?
@@over-engineered Why not either a condominium or a COOP corporation you own shares in?
When I bought my house I had to sign up to grounds maintenance charges and they have been ripping me off absolute discrace
This young guy is away ahead of his years. He's spot on with everything he has said. I Invested in buy-to-let leasehold property years ago here in England - Never again. Life is just too short to deal with the crap you have to go through with the Landlords and their extortionate charges and fees.
you knew what you are taking on
I had a property in Kent and I found the problem was the managing agents. My managing agents were apparently stealing the money and not doing repairs. My flat flooded from the roof as did the others in the block. I could t rent or sell for about 8 years due to the damage caused by the managing agents . The Scottish system is far better .
Never ever buy a leasehold its a rip off, an old man owns a bottom flat and the local council changed the roof as they own the upstairs they never told him there are going to change the roof then billed him 45,000 pounds day light robbery!!!
There are 90 properties on our new build street (circa 2010-2011), only 5 of those are freehold. 85 families are being screwed daily/yearly/monthly for doubling ground rent. THe only saving grace back then is that there are no service charges and the council adopted the roads. These days developers can sell properties as freehold but then impose huge service charges to recoup the money they lost out on. A scandal whichever way one turns.
Freeholders sometimes do backhand deals with building insurers. The building insurance costs are way too high.
i love all the "never buy leasehold" people, i hope you have an extra £100-200k to give me at the time of purchase so i can helpfully follow your advice next time
Well buy leasehold then ... NO one cares what you do. And if u get into problems and post it, people will snigger at u too.
Rent then.
Sadly limited choice creates the conditions whereby one has little choice but to buy leasehold. More flats than homes are being built and they are all leasehold. Rent! Really what planet are people on, getting a good rental property is no walk in the park and you can be kicked out at a moments notice. It’s alright for freeholders sitting pretty pontificating don’t buy leasehold, most freehold properties are snapped up by buy to let merchants, the rest is incredibly expensive. Let’s face it the UK house market is broken and it’s being kept that way by greedy capitalists who reap all the rewards .
@@williamhodgson1428 they either don't live in high property price areas like London, or have inherited wealth.
@@williamhodgson1428Yes it staggers me that so few people posting seem to understand this
I live in a development by Telford Homes with management company Rendall and Rittner. They are horrific. We have a heat network that serves hot water to all flats, we're not allowed own boilers. We regularly go without any hot water for weeks every winter.
R&R are our hot water supplier and set the prices to be anything they want. But now that the hot water system has been mismanaged and damaged for a few short years since it was installed, the residents are responsible to fix and replace. They are forcing this payment of over 250 by issuing an emergency dispensation as well as the section 20 major works. If we want to understand who is liable/mismanaged we have to fight to stop this happening whilst R&R are doing their most to push it through as hard as possible. They dont even know how much it's going to cost so it's going to be like signing a blank cheque.
Avoid Rendall & Rittner at all costs. Avoid large leasehold developments if you can as it's hard to get everyone on the same page to do anything.
Research who owns much of the land on which leaseholds are build, particularly in London and it becomes clear why nothing ever gets done to fix the leasehold rip off.
Kirstie Allsop?
Daylight robbery. If you buy an apartment in Portugal you own it outright.
My Service charges in Portugal is 23:41 euros per month.
wow I was a bbc watcher and Im starting to really like talk tv. Great job, we need to bring housing to the forefront of political discussion. Its very depressing for young people.
It has always been difficult in Britain just too many foreigners want to live here and breed here.
She should've found out what exactly she was getting into.
A leaseholder only purchases the right to live in a property for a certain amount of years, they don't own it.
The freeholder charges you ground rent per annum and a service charge for communal areas, usually in three/four quarters of the year.
40k a year? She knew that number beforehand for sure. That’s the worst thing about this.
40k a year? Anyone paying that much is getting done in the backside
Don’t buy leasehold it’s a nightmare 😢
NOT just leaseholders BUT the system.
I've got planning permission to convert a house inti two flats and wish to advertise the flats as separate projects (ZERO ground Rent ZERO maintenance) but estate agents won't touch it because of some compliance bullshit. BUT COMPLIANCE WITH WHAT?
Leasehold is the biggest con ever.
Other countries you own your flat outright. And pay roughly €30 ground rent monthly. The Uk system is outdated. The tenants of the burnt down tower block few years ago are paying extortionate amounts for the repairs to the building. And meantime homeless.
System is not protecting the buyer
Reality check. I live in London. All very fine saying don't buy leasehold, except majority of us here would never buy anything otherwise! I bought leasehold and I pay zero ground rent. My service charge in 15 years has never been more than £88 each month. Don't believe that's terrible. My management company is a well known social land lord. Which probably helps. It was still better than buying nowhere. At least we have a roof over our heads. If we were privately renting, our rent would be triple what our mortgage is. Bit sick of the snooty comments personally.
You are one of the small number of lucky ones.
But you don't actually 'own it' do you ? If the roof does decide to leak your in for a nasty financial shock and won't have any say in it
Buyer beware. Do your homework first
£33,000 service charge 😂🤣😂🤣 she must be in a luxury apartment in London
It's probably a cardboard box situated on a balcony. We are talking about London after all. Renting a cupboard costs several grand.
She is minted living in zone 1
Made up story ..There is an apartment for sale a few mins from Harrods £5 million service charge £21,000 per year ...
This is not made up . I know where this lady lives and have met both of them during attendance at the First Tier Tribunal and the Upper Tier Appeal court in the RCJ. The issue was various disputes with the fleeceholder of my building which is located near where she lives. It is not in central London.
But that still doesn't explain £33.000 a year on service charge.
You won't stop it ,too many mps sitting on the boards of house builders ,too many crooked mps on the boards of house builders,they should be sacked ,there the ones who stopped Gove
Solicitors are freeloaders too.
Modern leases contain catch all clauses meaning all the costs the Management incur can be recharged. Buyers solicitors are chronically negligent. Leaseholders often buy with their eyes willfully closed and only realise what they have done later. Who can I blame for my own negligence ?
This happens to retirees makes me sick.. American scam
I have owned a couple of leasehold flats and then offloaded them.
Now they are somebody else's problem.
You lives and learns i suppose
Its not a bad system when it works correctly. The problem is the con artists that take advantage.
I agree completely leasehold must be abolished for good. This system is a rip off!
The problem is that the landlords will have to be compensated. So the question is who pays the compensation, the leaseholders or the taxpayer?
In 1946mafter the war it was impossible to get any accommodation in the way of a flat or house. You were confined to a rented Room for years. . My Brother managed to get hold of an old damaged Chapel , and made it into his first married home.People were squatting in ex army barracks and the like.
Peppercorns ' popcorn ' rent !! 😅 law from 1066 . 🛣 highway robbery.
So she moved into an apartment in central london likely (above a hotel) and the service charge was 30k and there were no facilities? Well thats dumb!!! Since then its gone up 30% to 40k, what hasnt gone up 30% in the last few years?? I dont believe she didnt know about the service charge of 30k, she might not have understood leasehold, but she knew about the service charge. Not on the side of the landowners here, the system needs overhauling, but in her specefic case she did this to herself.
You spend the most money you’re ever going to spend and you don’t know the difference between leasehold and freehold?
everyone knows services charges are hugely expensive, yet people buy leases.
The king owns the land as tenure, so of course the king needs the money, he has castles ffs.
Leasehold MUST BE BANNED, only the Totally SELFISH would agree to keep such a system
Well she is paying to live in a fancy part of London isn't she? 😅. Don't know what's she is moaning about, had she done her homework properly she would not be in this position.
Never understood this system. How can you believe paying full property prices gives you rights when in all actuality you're renting.
Leasehold 'owners' should have the same rights as any other tenant
Nonsense you're not renting, You pay a huge amount of money (i.e. in London) to purchace the property.
@@william_marshal go learn the difference between leasehold and freehold.
How can you buy something that has lease in the name?
i know this tribunal in court waste of time .harry agree has to be sorted
How the hell do they afford it?😢
‘A feudal system going back to 1066. William the Conqueror knocking all the land..’
10…66. How can people still be getting caught short by this in 2024.
If you don’t know what being a leaseholder really means for you financially, as an adult that’s all on you.
Her fees are mind boggling
She obviously has more money than sense
UK law is ridiculous
Scotland have different laws and they're in the UK. Leaseholds are non existent.
Seriously it's hard to believe her. I am in uk for 3 and half year and I kniw what leasehold is. In the document that is given to you by the solicitor to sign by you it mentions the type if property is leasehold or freehold and also the solicitors asks you when hire him first thing if the property is leasehold or freehold. Hard to believe she bought without knowing it's leasehold
Sadly For some people it’s the only way they can get a home
Always carefully read the lease before purchase.Caveat emptor.
she becomes poorer every year the owners and agents become richer
If you're a leaseholder you don't own the property.
Yes you do
@@nowgrownupThe clue is in the word lease. You own the lease.
@@nowgrownupyou own a peice of paper that says you have the right to live there fir x amount of years.....
@@nowgrownupyou are a glorified renter.
@@nowgrownupsadly, without a brain😂😂😂 you own the lease! Not the building and not the land it sits on!
Why would someone buy something, moan and then admit that they don't know what it is that they bought?
I think part of the point is it’s not transparent as is the case with most standard contracts
Good she can afford to pay 33k a year in fees, she knew she would have to pay charges, did an inspection occur to advise possible issues.
Leasehold = sitting tenant
Private flats management companies can be horrible, the council flats is ok
What people need to do is actually read the lease before they buy 🤷
@equalitypeace1695 A lease is generally not beyond the ability of a reasonably educated person to read. Even if you spend a couple of hours reading and re-reading it will be worth it. Particularly the parts with the ground rent increase formula and what the managing agent is responsible for.
@equalitypeace1695 You read a lease that had ground rent doubling every ten years and you bought the property? Sorry to say but that was rather foolish. There are leases with a peppercorn rent and 999 year terms these are fine.
@equalitypeace1695 I did read what you wrote, but it was different to what you meant (not my fault). You should have said, I read the lease and they had a mathematical formula I did not understand. I've seen such formulas and the good ones are based on CPI increases and won't increase more than inflation.
I hope the gamble of not understanding the lease and buying in any case pays off for you if leasehold is scrapped but I wonder who pays the landlords compensation? Not a gamble I would have taken.
@equalitypeace1695 Not out of the realms of possibility but I will believe it when I see it. Often with this kind of legislation the government opt for a no more new builds with leases scenario. Much like they have done with gas boilers. As I say, who compensates the landlords, many of whom have very fair leases?
Mate live in the real world these documents require trust from your solicitor, the average person wouldn’t have time to read it.
You will own nothing and be happy!! WEF klaus swab.
Cross keys homes is at the centre of a lot of people’s anguish
She's angry at her own dumbness, who buys a property without reading or understanding the small print. Leasehold is theft. I bought a flat in Scotland because they are freehold. Every flat in England and Wales is leasehold. I have no service or other charges but of course i.e. if the roof gutters need cleaning I have to pay for that. She should have known that before she threw her cash out of the window !!!
What happend to the times back 1970/80
Buying flats especially
Houses convert to flat
Lease hold
We're 999 years
Ground rent was very little a year
Block of flats serviced charge was very little a year
Proper work was kept every year
And you can sell very easily
Back then
Estimate 999 years
Like having a free hold
Ps
It the landlord never see his property in his life time
SUPPOSE I WAS LUCKY BACK THEN
1970 /80
TODAY AM FREE HOLD
HOUSE
BUT IT WAS NOT A MASSIVE ISSUE BACK THEN
SUPPOSE GREAT BACK THEN
WHEN ENGLAND WAS GREAT ❤❤
You should know about all this before you buy.
Long before I ever bought my first home I would say "I'm never going to buy a leasehold property no matter how nice it is". So even then, living with my parents growing up, I knew about property.
It is a scam and I would have thought an educated person living in London would have been able to see what a huge trap buying a leasehold property is.
London itself is a false economy. You've got people on £50k a year who can't even afford to rent a cardboard box of a flat to live in and yet, in the small northern town I live in, a decent wage is £28k a year, like I'm on. With that you can easily buy a freehold terraced house for less than £100k and a 3 bed semi detached house for £130k.
I myself bought my 3 bed semi detached house for £70k which was such a low purchase price that despite only earning £28k per year, I was given a sole owner mortgage.
Living and working in a place of the highest wages doesn't automatically mean you will be the wealthiest. If it's a place of very high cost of living, such as London, then a millionaire can be poor.
This 100%.. London makes everyone but the richest feel like a failure
The big issue is the protection of pensioners. Many pension pots profit from leasehold and ground rent. IMO when you invest you know you could lose money as well as gain it so it’s time the pension pots profiting from others loss should get what they deserve from taking advantage of a predatory outdated system
This is a public robbery all leasers holder should get together and sue the government and other institution involved in this
Leasehold house is not too bad
Mobil homes are the same must be like open prison why are they in the middle of nowhere
Always read the small print...
This is fraud! You buy something for hundreds of thousands of pounds ansd you dont own it.
It's high time that the UK freed itself from the shackles of feudalism. The anachronistic leasehold system should be banned for good and replaced with commonhold tenure when it comes to flats. All houses, without exception, should be freehold. Period. The changes should, of course, apply retrospectively as well as to 'new' acquisitions.
I understand that there are in a difficult position and I sympathise, but this is what you get when you buy cheaply, which is what leasehold properties are. I presume she could not afford to buy freehold, which means she could not afford to buy. That's the reality and it's awful for this lady.
This government instigated help to buy, precisely because properties are unaffordable to the masses including many professionals. The government colluded with private interest groups, developers etc to create a system where leaseholders are being milked for everything their worth. Most of these properties are currently unsaleable due to the massive increases in buildings insurance which leaseholders have no input or control over whatsoever. Cladding problems are a mere smokescreen for what's really behind the issues were facing which is blatant profiteering through insurance policy kick backs to the freeholder and their agents.
Nonsense, every flat and or apartment in England and Wales is Leasehold and so are some houses. A flat in London can cost £500.000 where as a four bedroom house in Barrow costs £150.000 so you can hardly say they bought cheaply.
New Labour already gave you the right to buy your freehold if you're not happy. Your house was cheaper because the leaseholder paid for the land.
This apparently is a national issue but seems like the government is not really doing any "real" reform for the regulation. Cannot imagine this still happen in the country claiming no slaves no exploitation while the landlords are basically exploiting all the leaseholders. UK will just keep on falling with such a system.
Maybe the gypsies and travellers have been right all along.
Who is this woman?
IMHO Leasehold is just a long termed lease that you pay up front. I don't see it as buying or owning property.
in most cases you can arrange to jointly manage the building with other leaseholders, effectively voting out the freehold management company with control and nominate one or more leaseholders to run the management affairs.This doesn’t get rid of the Freeholder /management company, but does wrangle total control out of their hands. ( right to manage ) This example looks more complicated due to there being a Hotel at street level within the building, which might mean a clause in the lease stating that a professional management company with adequate insurances is in place to professional manage. I only have limited personal experience with this so my last part of my comment maybe incorrect .
The right to manage like the right to collectively buy the freehold depends on whether the building qualifies. If 50% of the building is non residential then the right to manage or buying the freehold does not apply.
Leasehold you get share of freehold most country’s
Harry is incorrect, Hawaii has a leasehold system, as does Singapore and China.But I suppose those aren’t countries 😂. She signed the contract, it would be unwise to renege on existing contracts.
Never bying a pricate flat again in my life. Mai be council flat or leasehold house
Cant watch this bloke...
The UK USURIOUS MODERNITY…everything solid melts into thin air.
Pretty shocked the solicitor, the valuer and subsequently mortgage lender she used never noted her service charge as being excessively high? And how could she be so nieve ? Something doesn't smell right here.
It would depend what the charge was when she bought the flat. A lot of new developments have a reasonable service charge for the first 10 years or so but as soon as the building starts to need upkeep the charges start to ratchet up. Also, speaking from experience landlords have used the fire safety regulations brought in by the government to milk leaseholders, and insurance premiums have increased dramatically too because of all these new safety measures and the increase in building material costs. My own service charge started at £3,200 per year in 2006 to over £9,000 now with what seems to be a decline in service. I know another person who’s charge has gone from £6k per annum in 2003 to over £44k now. With that level of service charge her apartment unsellable. What the solicitors don’t warn you about is that your service charge can be arbitrarily increased over time whilst you have no say in the matter.
Those service charges are more than my mortgage 😮
It was down to her to do her own due diligence and she didn't. It's not for anyone else to wipe her backside. Everyone else is simply in it to make money off her - and they did. She just didn't do her own research. I have no sympathy.
@@beatenbytheclown You must have been mad signing up to that! They've had your pants down since the day you moved in.
@@bobjames6622 back then I was just happy to get on the ladder but lessoned learned. I eventually bought a freehold house in part because I was sick of dealing with the management company and a freeholder which was just a shell company in an offshore tax haven. But I’m a landlord now not through choice, I can’t sell my old apartment unless it’s to a low ball cash only offer since the building didn’t get a satisfactory EWS1 certification. The way the government have reacted to fire safety in the wake of Grenfell, whilst having good intentions has been completely ill thought out as it’s allowed freeholders to milk leaseholders. Our building qualified for the Building Safety Fund but it took over 6 months for the freeholder to sign the necessary documentation. Why? No idea. Been waiting 2 years for remediation work to begin, zero progress. At least I’m not a forced seller.
The following organisations and persons should be ashamed of themselves
RG Reversions Ltd
Pier Management Southend Essex
Parkfords Property Management Bromley
The Gould brothers( Essex billionaires)
My first flat was lease hold and grade 2 listed. I knew what condition it was in before I bought it because I looked it over thoroughly and my solicitor inspected the lease to an forensically, including clauses on any increase in fees. I knew what I was in getting in to and as a result never had a problem, if these people haven’t done their due diligence then more fool them. It’s about time we stop legislating for the thick in this country.
My hero
Couldn't agree more. I did my own due diligence before buying my first property when I was 26 and never had a problem - because I read absolutely everything and asked loads of questions.
Well said and I was thinking the absolute same thing!
Lol so it's okay to get ripped off so long as you're aware of it 😂 the terms in them leases are disgustingly bad,I can't believe you dummies are acting like its no biggie and justified. If you're sticking up for this nonsense then I'm afraid you're the thick one.
well said. I bet she had a comprehensive report on the title and was provide with a management pack. I can guarantee she never had a survey.
Only in the UK !!!!!!! Not in France....no chance !! They would hit the streets with something leasehold !!!!
Government should ban landlords from having more than 2 buy to let properties.
Actuality the tenants are paying their mortgage.
The more the properties they own they work with the estate agents to have the rent increase.
Lease hold is worse for property owners it’s true.
Commie
Who would own them then?
Can you take your home with you when you die? The next person buys your house you owned when you die. on and on it goes. System wins. It's a casino where the house wins all the time.
Meanwhile before you die though it's kinda handy to have a roof over your head. Takes the sting out of the wind and rain.
@@sonictelephone1526 This country was a haven once before the lack of imagination, immigration and money came into effect, destroying everything.
The fault lies with the buyer. Don’t buy with a lease .
That’s what I said, do your due diligence.
Buying a property is the biggest purchase most people will make in their lifetime. Because of this I read absolutely everything and when I was 26 and buying my first property I remember asking the estate agent what the difference between 'freehold' and 'leasehold' was. When he told me, I knew straight away that I was never going to buy a 'leasehold' property in my life. You need to do your own due diligence because everyone else is simply in it to make money off you. I have no sympathy for this lady.
This is a major money making CON and people are buying freeholds to extort money out of leaseholders.
"Did you have a solicitor?"
"Er...I think we probably did."
In other words you didn't have a solicitor and you walked blindly into a leasehold agreement without a land search or checking the small print about ground rent and service charges.
Ground rent and service charges don't exponentially increase at the whim of the freeholder. The terms, rates and dates are written into the agreement.
Yes, leasehold is a mugs game. I've been there and done it, and would NEVER do it again. But in this particular instance you have no one but yourselves to blame.
Everyone has a solicitor when they buy a property.
Not strictly true, there are solicitors some of whom may not be very good and also Licensed Conveyancers some of whom may be very good. @@seansmith445
seems they where hit with cost of flooding, new carpets etc etc, all part of the fun of
a leasehold,
lol Jeramy’s advice “sue the lawyers…” lol yes Jeramy let’s send money to lawyers. lol what a USURIOUS SYSTEM!
😢
Leashold means rented freehold bought.Flats bought usually have leasehold outside grounds or communal areas. areas,thats rented.
Try new zealand . Leases going up 10 fold or more reducing the value by the same.
More money than sence 😂
She’s a millionaire scared to put her hand in her pocket
"Sense".
This is the result in the breakdown of traditional British families and family values in the UK. Go home and stay with your family like the Asians do and save your money. Help each other.
Basically any flat sold needs to have a lease on it , the mortgage companies insist on it.
I believe now the lease holders can club together and buy the freehold if they wish. Then manage the building themselves.
The freeholds are an asset that has value, you can’t just take them off their owners and give them to the lease holders! That’s like communism.
Get together and buy the freehold.
I'd say the owners have been payed already repeatedly: when they sold the leasehold, ground rent and overkilling service charges.
Freeholders are thieves and immoral.
You are spot on. The government cannot confiscate a property right without compensating the freeholders.
You can ban leaseholds going forward, but to convert leaseholds to commonholds you must still compensate the landlords. The issue is who pays? The leaseholders or the tax payer. I would suggest that tax payers, who may be renters or lodgers would be unfair.@equalitypeace1695
Perhaps she should have researched freehold and leasehold!
Educated people make the most curious decisions.
I own a leasehold property and it was all I could afford as a first time buyer. I made sure that when buying it the lease length was very long, plus services charges were minimal. The solicitor and estate agents also has responsibility letting you know as well. It's either this lady was misold this, or I suspect a lot of ignorance. She knows alot about leases now, did she know back then? Did she not do their research? For someone paying £40k a year just in fees I am going to presume has got to a high place in life to have the ability to read terms and conditions of leasehold properties. This baffles me a bit!