Leasehold in the UK is just scandalous. The only way is can possibly work is if the leaseholders own the freehold and there are only a small number of them eg. 3 leasehold flats in a single building. Commercial landlords and service charge company are just thieves.
My freeholder (block of 4 flats), offered to let one of us organise the maintenance. We all couldn't be bothered. David Cameron put a limit on how much a lease extension can cost. The ground rent doubles in about as much time as it takes my wages to quadruple. I had to pay two grand towards a leaky roof. But, if I owned a house I might have to do that. David Cameron made all of this a lot safer. He actually made freeholds not the greatest of investments. I haven't watched it all yet. I hope they mention him by the end. Also remember Moneypit with Tom Hanks.
The problem is the building. Once that is damaged, who would pay for it. I guess that is the problem of a big building. Once it falls apart, the cost will be substantial!
This is interesting and I enjoyed this video . I own alot of a bags from the brands . I have a real Hermes and a ‘fake’ hermes kelly. The Kelly I took with me to hermes once and the sell’s representative thought it was real so did the customer near me . I let them know it was not from the hermes brand lol. The customer wanted to know where I bought it *suluxy* so she could get one like it lol. Honestly I was not embarrassed about it but was amused that everyone thought it was real . :)
Big return comes from investing big. Investing big comes from building conviction, conviction comes from understanding, understanding comes from doing your homework and research beyond surface level.
I agree with you and I believe that the secret to financial stability is having the right investment ideas to enable you earn more money, I don’t know who agrees with me but either way I recommend either digital currency or stocks.
I’ve been diligently working, saving and contributing towards early retirement and financial freedom, but since covid outbreak, the economy so far has caused my portfolio to underperform, do I keep contributing to my 401k or look at alternative sectors to meet my goals?
I've always delegated my investment decisions to an advisor, since suffering major portfolio loss early 2020, amid covid outbreak. I'm now semi-retired and only work 7.5 hours a week, with barely 25% short of my $1m retirement goal after subsequent investments to date.
I would not mind looking up the professional that helped you. I will be retiring in two years and I might need some management on my much larger portfolio. Don't want to take any chances.
*Mr Gary Mason Brooks* a highly respected figure in his field. I suggest delving deeper into his credentials, as he possesses extensive experience and serves as a valuable resource for individuals seeking guidance in navigating the financial market.
Interesting to note that all the buildings featured -even when not abandoned, and charging extortionate amounts for upkeep -were scabby, falling apart and neglected. Can a legal scam be any more obvious? Leasehold is not just a 'broken system', it puts into question the very idea of Rule of Law in the UK.
New-build leasehold model: throw up a fault-ridden building; pass building to freehold arm of related company/sell to freeholder; ‘fix’ what needs to be fixed at leaseholders’ expense; if leaseholder can’t afford it, freeholder buys back repossessed home. Quids in for all except the leaseholders. Totally scandalous.
Our leasehold has a £2.2m major works bill. £55k for us... Service charge has gone from £1800 to £3600 in three years. They now have a major works bill for £108k for CCTV... there are 101 flats. Absolute extortion.
Leasehold is theft and can only occur in Britain. The fellow who says it cannot 'just' be scrapped is quite right as too many vested interests own the freehold. The most crazy aspects are exposed by the cladding. Someone who 'owns' 25% of the flat is expected to pay 100% for the removal and restoration of the cladding. Completely bonkers. [Edit: It is no coincidence the UK is awash with scandal after scandal of which this is one.]
I agree that abolishing leasehold will not be fine overnight. What I don’t understand is why the government is not stopping the creation of new leaseholds. This is a simple thing to do. New flats should be built with commonhold as the default tenure.
@@celiapires8090You still pay stamp duty. It's an artificial churn in the economy designed by the government. We tax at point of transaction in the UK. You can also leverage the asset for borrowing which increases spend, again more churn, more tax. Why do you think we have these fixed rate periods too. Again artificial horizon that creates churn. You aren't a worker in the UK, you are the product.
Kudos to the BBC for covering the unfairness of this feudal system. Enough is enough. We need the government to deliver the leasehold and freehold bill NOW!!!
leasholders should have right to buy land ...Service charge should be done by local authority like borough to pay repair very basic things .I should pay not 200£ but 50£ a month .I don't see these money .I wish I could be paid for mowing grass 6000£ a year for a small parcel
It's downright criminal that Fozzia has been out of her flat for FOUR YEARS but is still paying charges. The owners have no incentive to actually fix the building while they are raking in money from the lessees.
@@eattherich9215Correct. They wait until it falls apart whilst making the most of the time and charging money. I feel for her and all of those affected. It is a legal scam and it should be stopped immediately!!!!
Imagine if you walked into Tesco and they demanded you cough up £14k to repair the building's cladding. Bizarre these people can claim to be owners of the cladding, but their customers are responsible for its maintenance - and the courts accept it.
This is what has made out country so shit everything is for business, it’s like hell living in these situation, people actually defecate in our estate block like actually poo and we have to pay for it yet they won’t install a fob security system on the block. But they can charge the residents instead so they don’t care. It’s Westminster council aswell….
The main culprits are developers and their shoddy new builds. If a car is unsafe, regardless of regulations, the manufacturer is well and truly on the hook under "strict liability" laws that apply to consumer products. It is not necessarily required to prove negligence.
@user-ug8wx5er1w this is where you don't know what you are talking about some people can't afford to buy a freehold house and some people were not told at the time when purchasing ground rent will double every 10 years or service charge will increase are such a high rate
@kevoreilly6557 some people have no choice. We can't afford to buy a house. Flats are cheaper then houses. And the second reason is most people at the time of buying a leasehold were not told that the ground rent will escalate every 10 years or service charge will go out of control. There was no publicity about leasehold at the time like we have now. More people are now aware with the problems of buying a leasehold . So let's not victim blame but blame developers block management companies and freeholders who exploit home owners
This is interesting and I enjoyed this video . I own alot of a bags from the brands . I have a real Hermes and a ‘fake’ hermes kelly. The Kelly I took with me to hermes once and the sell’s representative thought it was real so did the customer near me . I let them know it was not from the hermes brand lol. The customer wanted to know where I bought it *suluxy* so she could get one like it lol. Honestly I was not embarrassed about it but was amused that everyone thought it was real . :)
@@bobjames6622 nah. With freehold you can have major costs like roof repair and if you live in London a house is always far away from the centre. For me and my job it’s better a leasehold. It’s closer to my job and the company is taking care of everything, so when I will be back to Italy for my retirement I will just rent the apartment without worries about the roof leak and gas etc,
@@staedlerok And just WHO do you think also pays for ALL repairs under leasehold? That's right, the TENANTS! DUH! Oh, and with rent, and leasehold you NEVER actually own the property.
@@fhm3762 That would be the best and only fair outcome. But not many companies survive the projects they construct, and there's no guarantee that they will have enough funds.
You can take over the management of a leasehold block of flats in the UK! 1. Right to Manage (RTM) Overview: Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, leaseholders can form a Right to Manage company to take over the management of their building without needing to prove fault by the current managing agent.
Why didn’t the BBC interview the local firefighters in Manchester? Why the fire service condemns the building due to lack of maintenance. This is the easy way out for them . Fire fighting equipment has to maintained annually and equipment is tagged by that vendor. Why did they wait so long to simply pop in one day for an inspection? That’s not how it works, all the equipment and alarms didn’t just fail one day all at the same time. The system is rotten.
Finally some coverage on leasehold properties. Shocking the number of people who buy flats and unaware they don’t own the property and have to pay charges.
Leasehold is how the former prince Chuck and now prince Willie make their money from the Duthchys. Plus they refused to sell them to the building owners. When willie becomes king his first born son will get it. And on and on.
Time to dethrone the Royals. They do nothing except hold us all back financially and Charles is a WEF head, that’s says it all really, they are bad for us.
@@lily_m3538 Don't buy in London - remove the idea/aspiration from the equation for young people completely. Offer them a reality-check & save them the sleepless nights. It's a fools game in L, unless you're an Oligarch. Any £ spent there lining landlord/developer pockets is dead/silly £ imo. Both my kids moved there for a few years after graduating, for the experience, to make connections, to land good jobs. They did that, had a great time, made life-long friends, got themselves up the ladder a bit, realised the (significant) limitations/wasted £, then got the hell out. It's okay as a temporary stop-gap, if you're young & having a bit of fun, but it's a financially crippling experience/commitment for many long-term. It makes zero financial sense. One positive to come out of covid I guess, is that everyone now knows (including reluctant/archaic employers) that pretty much anyone can work from anywhere nowadays & take advantage of better housing options. When the demand drops, prices, in theory should drop, but it won't happen unless we stop selling every available living space to foreign investor's. Take your time before diving in, try (rent, but briefly) before you buy, consider the options; there are more than you think, & never, ever buy leasehold, anywhere, but especially not in L !!
RTM is the way to go. That is Right to Manage, cheap and easy to set up, you just need a majority of leaseholders to agree to set up a RTM. No more dodgy bills, saves a fortune.
In houses, even if you buy your freehold from a leasehold development, it is very likely that the road and access is still not public and therefore you own a bit of land surrounded by property owned by a private landlord without public access... I noticed that when we were buying and the agent said "no worries, the sellers are buying the freehold" and I picked up on the road, which was "private", therefore not owned by the landlord. See ya
I feel so sorry for the people caught in this situation. I expected Britain had better protections in place. It sounds as bad as the USA where the rich take advantage of every legal loophole.
a common occurence that happened to me when dealing with RMG is when someone first moves into one of their fleecehold managed homes, they screw up the first invoice somehow (for me it was that they sent it to my old address over a year after i'd moved into the new address (THE ONE THAT THE BILL IS FOR DUHH). No attempt to contact me at the new address or on my phone number or email, straight to their debt collection department and so the first i know about the invoice etc i have a huge bill with all the added legal fees... scum bags
Another problem is if you buy a leasehold and there was a mistake in the accounts during the period of the previous owner. They may then come to the new owner to collect the money.
It all comes down to pure greed by these management companies, they take as much money as they can and do as little work as they can possibly get away with. My block had the cladding removed years ago and to this day hasn’t been replaced. Takes months for them to even put light bulbs in block and car park lights
It’s not surprising that Chris is having issues with mould in his flat. The sedum (green) roof above acts like a sponge, trapping water with nowhere for it to drain, which has led to mould spreading throughout his flat. I’m currently working on a project facing the exact same issue, where we’re replacing the green roof entirely on a similar building. This problem arises when the Sedum roofing system hasn't been installed corectly. It's an expensive fix as the main roof will need to be stripped back and started again. Chris should check how often the sedum roof has been maintained, as these roofs require regular upkeep. If the building owner has neglected maintenance, liability for the damage should fall back on them. Hope he get it sorted, I do feel for him as he shouldn't have to pay. It;s also worth checking if the main Roof is still under warranty if it's less then 25 years old, if it is then the building owner should be contacting the roofing contractor who installed the sedum roof in the first place.
All homeowners are only tenants. Your mortgage only purchases the right to rent the property from the state thru council tax and to pass some of your investment on after inheritance taxes. You don’t own anything if the state can impose a charge then take the property off you for non-payment…
What if you own outright without a mortgage? I don’t see how the council can claim your property over missed council tax payments if you’ve bought the place outright?
@@peanutboxes4076thats exactly what happens. Fines for nonpayment of council tax, bailiffs and eventually forced to sell the house to pay the fines… the state can set taxes and fines as it pleases and if it chooses slowly force everyone out of their homes and off their land…
Leasehold orFreehold no one owns nothing in the UK. The Gov own everything including your life , children and family. We are numbers living in a big brother house. Not even when you died they make it easier.Someone must pay thousands for your funeral. It is better to pay rent in the Uk and buy a nice home elsewhere and rent it to make profit 😊
Leaseholders are effectively tenants, but freeholders even if mortgaged up to their eyeballs are not. The government cannot just take your house if you don't pay taxes, however they will attempt to recover the debt and this MAY in some cases lead to a forced sale of the house.. it is uncommon because they prefer other quicker means of recovery.
Not true. There is still private property rights in the UK. The government can’t confiscate your property, but you could be forced to sell to settle debts (private debts, or public debts). Nothing new or unique there. I’d agree that taxes in the UK are too high for the mostly shite services we get, but that’s a separate discussion.
17k to extend the leasehold to sell 1 bedroom flat. 13 months later, just sent to the land registry. Another 14 months queue apparently. Thank you very much . Swindon
It’s just a way for the big developers to make money and pass the cost on. To think this is supposed to ease the housing crisis, it’s just a trick to further pummel people who can’t afford to buy a home outright.
Never ever buy leasehold, you are better off renting. If it’s not freehold forget it especially when buying flats on estates as you end up paying for all the other properties maintenance and changes such as new doors etc.
I don’t get it how it becomes so expensive to pay for roof. When i owned flat in Slovakia,it went through complete insulation, repainting, roof- the company owning building took mortgage to xy number of years. The ground rent was €120 per month including water and central heating and all service charges, yes, it goes up every year and it based on the number of people living in your flat, building has 60 flats but never went up more than few € in a decade I owned the flat. It’s not luxury apartments but decent place. Plus if u spend less of water or heating, u are refunded at the end of tax year. I sold my flat and it took a month for the full process, only because the bank has 28 days to approve a mortgage. No bloody leases, surveys. 🤦♀️. I am pretty sure someone still gets to fill up their pockets l, don’t get me wrong but in the UK, buying property is a traumatic experience even with buying house. I ended up buying a freehold because I had a dog and after 5 months of back and forth with solicitors, endless waiting, the leaseholder didn’t want pet despite the agency saying it shouldn’t be a problem and I said I got a pet at the first viewing. I didn’t need a house, I would be happy in the flat. I was asking about it few times throughout the process, always no issue. 95% cash with tiny mortgage, paid for mortgage advisor - wasted money. It fell into pieces, I went further away to fit into my cash budget,no one tells me whether I can have a small dog while working from home! And I got another dog now we have more space and garden for ourselves. FU, British system! I am very grateful, it feels like I dodged a bullet!
It because they pocket the service charge unless they have something big to pay for and even then they inflate the prices to siphon as much money as possible from leaseholders
I am going through exactly tbe same, my home for 16 years. Scammed into a matrix of locked in. It's heartbreaking, I'm stuck to pay extortionate interest rates. It's fraud by deception!!
On the one hand, people purchasing leaseholds are clearly not the brightest sparks. Took me 5 minutes of research to learn I wouldn't touch a leasehold with a 100ft barge pole. On the other hand, the law should protect the most vulnerable of society. Moving forwards, new leaseholds should be banned, blocks of flats should only ever be suitable for rented accommodation with the freeholder taking all the risk. Blatant examples of corruption (14k a month?!) should immediately be classed as fraud/scam/criminal offence.
That is pretty ignorant and arrogant from you to say. Just becauae u did simple google search it doesn’t mean u fully understand the issue when in it, u can get misled too. I bought my propery in 2022 and the whole system is pretty complicated, never heard of anyone where I come from that the process of buying with cash takes more than a month. Just ridicolous, endless exchange of enquiries and extra fees for this and that.
its crazy how these lease holders charge so much for service charger, then when there is a problem they say its the old developer so not there concern wtf
Free holds are sold for the price of a flat in the building and they they come in and try and squeeze every penny they can in profit .no repairs are done just to change fire doors which only need stickers on them the try and bill you for £250,000
Definitely one of the most vulnerable sectors to corruption is the real estate sector, given the lack of housing and opportunities, while a lot of money is laundered in this sector, in addition to the monopoly in the unfair and corrupt system, in addition to its high price and often low quality standards, represents many times an abuse, and this is how many people have become rich of the property scam.
Leasehold it’s a feudal system. Why it’s legal to sell the house but not the land where the house is ? And not only that charge me maintenance cost for doing nothing?! Freehold !!
Any owners in these tips with a mortgage should just give the keys back to the bank and walk away. The mortgage provider ownes the property so give the keys back and let them get their money back from who ever they paid. Just mentally treat it as if they have been renting for the period they have been there rather than buying. Know someone that did this years back on a house that went into negative equity, just gave the keys back.
Let's not forget kier starmer in opposition to rishi sunak. As PM said, the interest rate was too high, and people were struggling with mortgage hikes. Yet now kier is in charge he has done NOTHING about it. I don't hold much hope for liebour helping people with leasehold with all the already false promises
Those are not the only two options. Why pay a fair price for those freeholds? Didn't they make enough money over the years? The whole leasehold things feels more like a scam. My heart is with the victims.
Council tenants pay an economic rent for the property they occupy, they aren't screwing anyone. The reason council rents are lower is no profit motivation from the landlord and economy of scale regarding things like financing costs and repairs/maintenance. If you mean housing benefit, anyone renter can claim that and private landlords are who derives most benefit from it, as they're effectively having a private asset paid off at public expense.
Freehold titles often come up for auction. They are often cheap but allow the buyer to start charging a ground rent and service charge. I have seen freeholds at auction for 3k . They then re sell to the leaseholder for a huge markup . Leaseholds I think have to be offered the freehold before its sold. Just do a search for freehold tiltles for sale.
When people were 'buying' these leasehold flats, did solicitors not explain what the potential risks were? I mean, leasehold is a scam, but it hasn't suddenly changed - it's always been like this.
@@user-ug8wx5er1w I guess that's my point. People willingly entered into these contacts. It's not as if there has been a bait and switch. I have some sympathy for issues relating to the cladding crisis - where clearly developers should be carrying the burden - but on the wider issue of leasehold, it's what they signed up for.
It’s a disgrace, the freeholders should be responsible for the building infrastructure and the leaseholder for their internal flat considering the ridiculous charges but these companies treat the service charges like pocket money.
U live in flat and just because the house is big but u still live in a same flat u have to pay more wtf that makes zero sense... Second one - All that grass on the roof is main reason why it stays damp no mater what... sad the building is crying for help and gets only ignorance back. I was literally shocked when i was told that in uk when u buy u buy all defects as well i was like wtf u tying to say site manager??? He said ye patch it up il get the acceptance signature and the rest is history. I couldn't believe what i have heard. So any prick can build a crap house get payed and buyer will go bankrupt trying to repair it... because builder is not responsible how the hell u can be not responsible unbelievable... Mould needs just 2 things bridge of cold and damp, 36 hours, u have mould. Main reason in uk people have very poor ventilation or none. U can heat up as much as u like but until u don't get proper ventilation issue will stay. Obviously if there is problem it must be fixed first. NOT PAINTED OVER!!!!! Never do that it will just keep deteriorating more and more because u trying to hide inevitable. Fix it first let it stay make sure it's not coming back then u can paint. Sorry if don't make sense english is my 5th language...
Scandalous that leaseholders have to pay increased insurance premiums because of cladding risk. Also that Leaseholders have higher interest payments as Stakeholders kick the can down the road deciding the specification of any replacement cladding. Has cladding remediation being delayed because of Grenfell report as stakeholders assess if they can claim against cladding manufacturers?
i couldn't imagine opening a letter for £1.4K monthly service charge. For the last lady who hasn't been in her home for 4 years how can she have to pay her mortgage and not actually live in the house, haven't the owners of the building committed fraud? I feel empathy for all of them but I have the distinct feeling the tax payer will end up bailing out the companies, which i do not agree with.
It's crazy, but surely the mortgage lender can assist the leaseholders to protect their interest in the property by way of the mortgage loan. It's interesting that you never hear them supporting the mortgagee. That's because many have themselves invested in leasehold properties and they stand to lose from this cash cow. Leasehold has really only become a bad nightmare due to the serious exploitation in the last few years.
I went through exactly this problem. Feel very tricked for the sales agent. Coming from another country made it really challenging for me as I'm far away from being rich. It is depressing to see the money you worked so hard for disappearing because of that.
I dont see why the government cannot create an alternative system then apply a 100% tax on income from existing leaseholds. Then leaseholders and free holders can voluntarily move over to the new system.
14k a month….. who on earth thought that anyone could actually pay that? Thats 168k a year… a single person would need to be paid 300k just to cover that bill after income tax.
I wish they’d explain the purpose of leaseholds in flats…. A leasehold for a house is very difficult to justify but for a flat it’s important because of shared spaces and the fact you can’t own the air, flats are typically built on top of each over and you can’t own split a single piece of land between all the owners of the flats above iit
With flats, There are many other ways to manage this and other countries do it much better. For instance, one way is the freehold can be split and managed by the flat owners themselves.
@@bobjames6622 is try but they know all details and they will not tell you..is impossible to find out all details... unless you are working daily with these lease..
As an external wall fire risk assessor there is absolutely no need to close down a whole building like that. You put adequate risk mitigation measures in place. The world has gone mad. Noone wants to take responsibility, if in doubt just close it down. Terrible mentality. I should also say the worst run, worst maintained buildings in my experience have been those where the residents run the management association.
If the defects are there and the flats are sold share of freehold then the residents still have the issues on their hands to deal with, they just get to argue with each other rather their freeholder. The residents owning the freehold doesnt fix the issues…
Theres some nice apartment around the corner from mine, sevice charges £230 a month 😮😮😮 for what ??? And thats without your rent or mortgage. And they are only gunna go one way
It's a minefield, I have friends who were made homeless as their freeholder built over their flat. They are still fighting a legal battle (2 years and counting) to get compensation for flooded flats, damaged walls and ceilings, and loss of space as the builders built into their flat.. crazy, no help from the government. If you can afford freehold, stick with it, don't give up the control.
Not all leaseholds are the same. I have lived in leasehold properties for over 40 years and only experienced a bit of negativity when I lived in a local authority, low rise block. The council carried out a poor quality 'major works' renovation for which my share as a leaseholder was some £10,000. I refused to pay for work that was not carried out and the council saw my point of view. I sold up and am now living in a private block that is owned by the residents. My advice is not to buy into any of those big, new developments OR an ex-local authority flat.
Move to Scotland to buy a flat. Im not rich and it would be cheaper to move up there from England for a few reasons. English property is a ripoff. This leasehold issue is a nightmare, imagine not being able to afford it and not able to sell up either ! I feel so sorry for those who bought nice new cosy places to live and now under huge financial stress. Its all wrong.
It does look like a high maintenance building, with 5:59 flat roof and lifts etc etc. There would always be these maintenance costs no matter what legal structure. How would you negotiate an agreement with all your neighbours to have the roof repairs done, or all the windows replaced. If a number of neighbours refused to cooperate with the total costs what would you do,? Owning a freehold would bring bigger problems.
Never buy a leasehold, equity share, buying scheme, or home on unadopted land or access. You have NO leverage and ALL the risk and costs on you.
Those who sell this "product" should not be criminalised by legislators ?
The majority of properties in the North are leasehold. It's quite rare to see a freehold home up for sale.
You can’t be criminalised for something that isn’t a crime you melon
Leasehold in the UK is just scandalous. The only way is can possibly work is if the leaseholders own the freehold and there are only a small number of them eg. 3 leasehold flats in a single building. Commercial landlords and service charge company are just thieves.
My freeholder (block of 4 flats), offered to let one of us organise the maintenance. We all couldn't be bothered. David Cameron put a limit on how much a lease extension can cost. The ground rent doubles in about as much time as it takes my wages to quadruple.
I had to pay two grand towards a leaky roof. But, if I owned a house I might have to do that.
David Cameron made all of this a lot safer. He actually made freeholds not the greatest of investments. I haven't watched it all yet. I hope they mention him by the end.
Also remember Moneypit with Tom Hanks.
🙌
The problem is the building. Once that is damaged, who would pay for it. I guess that is the problem of a big building. Once it falls apart, the cost will be substantial!
This is interesting and I enjoyed this video . I own alot of a bags from the brands . I have a real Hermes and a ‘fake’ hermes kelly. The Kelly I took with me to hermes once and the sell’s representative thought it was real so did the customer near me . I let them know it was not from the hermes brand lol. The customer wanted to know where I bought it *suluxy* so she could get one like it lol. Honestly I was not embarrassed about it but was amused that everyone thought it was real . :)
Just don’t buy a leasehold then
Big return comes from investing big. Investing big comes from building conviction, conviction comes from understanding, understanding comes from doing your homework and research beyond surface level.
I agree with you and I believe that the secret to financial stability is having the right investment ideas to enable you earn more money, I don’t know who agrees with me but either way I recommend either digital currency or stocks.
I’ve been diligently working, saving and contributing towards early retirement and financial freedom, but since covid outbreak, the economy so far has caused my portfolio to underperform, do I keep contributing to my 401k or look at alternative sectors to meet my goals?
I've always delegated my investment decisions to an advisor, since suffering major portfolio loss early 2020, amid covid outbreak. I'm now semi-retired and only work 7.5 hours a week, with barely 25% short of my $1m retirement goal after subsequent investments to date.
I would not mind looking up the professional that helped you. I will be retiring in two years and I might need some management on my much larger portfolio. Don't want to take any chances.
*Mr Gary Mason Brooks* a highly respected figure in his field. I suggest delving deeper into his credentials, as he possesses extensive experience and serves as a valuable resource for individuals seeking guidance in navigating the financial market.
Interesting to note that all the buildings featured -even when not abandoned, and charging extortionate amounts for upkeep -were scabby, falling apart and neglected. Can a legal scam be any more obvious? Leasehold is not just a 'broken system', it puts into question the very idea of Rule of Law in the UK.
Perfectly said. Another legal scamming where they squeeze every drop out of the tenants.
They're slums. We need to use that word more often.
New-build leasehold model: throw up a fault-ridden building; pass building to freehold arm of related company/sell to freeholder; ‘fix’ what needs to be fixed at leaseholders’ expense; if leaseholder can’t afford it, freeholder buys back repossessed home. Quids in for all except the leaseholders. Totally scandalous.
Greed has no limits.
It’s on every level in the UK nowadays. The only people who dont have to worry about the cost of anything is those with a lot of money already.
Apparently the root of all evil .
I noticed that by some humans.....well said
Our leasehold has a £2.2m major works bill. £55k for us... Service charge has gone from £1800 to £3600 in three years. They now have a major works bill for £108k for CCTV... there are 101 flats. Absolute extortion.
Leasehold is theft and can only occur in Britain.
The fellow who says it cannot 'just' be scrapped is quite right as too many vested interests own the freehold.
The most crazy aspects are exposed by the cladding.
Someone who 'owns' 25% of the flat is expected to pay 100% for the removal and restoration of the cladding.
Completely bonkers.
[Edit: It is no coincidence the UK is awash with scandal after scandal of which this is one.]
I agree that abolishing leasehold will not be fine overnight. What I don’t understand is why the government is not stopping the creation of new leaseholds. This is a simple thing to do. New flats should be built with commonhold as the default tenure.
@@celiapires8090You still pay stamp duty. It's an artificial churn in the economy designed by the government. We tax at point of transaction in the UK. You can also leverage the asset for borrowing which increases spend, again more churn, more tax. Why do you think we have these fixed rate periods too. Again artificial horizon that creates churn. You aren't a worker in the UK, you are the product.
Yeah cladding is noones fault but the developers !!
And leasehold is a scam should be abolished. Does any other country have it??
All apartments in China are 20~70 years leasehold.
@mountainhermit1519 only the government own land in china.
Kudos to the BBC for covering the unfairness of this feudal system. Enough is enough. We need the government to deliver the leasehold and freehold bill NOW!!!
leasholders should have right to buy land ...Service charge should be done by local authority like borough to pay repair very basic things .I should pay not 200£ but 50£ a month .I don't see these money .I wish I could be paid for mowing grass 6000£ a year for a small parcel
It’s really shocking they covered this. BBC has lost its credibility long time ago
You have kings, you have fudal system.
Just pure phisics. Accepted and live with it.
@@piotrwojdelko1150 You think the council would be cheaper? Have you ever seen anyone who works for the man work?
@@JanBanJoovi-ol1qvr u stupid?
Absolutely horrific. So sad for these people 😢
It's downright criminal that Fozzia has been out of her flat for FOUR YEARS but is still paying charges. The owners have no incentive to actually fix the building while they are raking in money from the lessees.
@@eattherich9215Correct. They wait until it falls apart whilst making the most of the time and charging money. I feel for her and all of those affected. It is a legal scam and it should be stopped immediately!!!!
Imagine if you walked into Tesco and they demanded you cough up £14k to repair the building's cladding. Bizarre these people can claim to be owners of the cladding, but their customers are responsible for its maintenance - and the courts accept it.
This is what has made out country so shit everything is for business, it’s like hell living in these situation, people actually defecate in our estate block like actually poo and we have to pay for it yet they won’t install a fob security system on the block. But they can charge the residents instead so they don’t care. It’s Westminster council aswell….
The main culprits are developers and their shoddy new builds. If a car is unsafe, regardless of regulations, the manufacturer is well and truly on the hook under "strict liability" laws that apply to consumer products. It is not necessarily required to prove negligence.
Fleecehold
People moaning and then still buy one 🤷🏽♂️
@user-ug8wx5er1w this is where you don't know what you are talking about some people can't afford to buy a freehold house and some people were not told at the time when purchasing ground rent will double every 10 years or service charge will increase are such a high rate
@@equalitypeace1695so, why would you ever sign that contract?
@kevoreilly6557 some people have no choice. We can't afford to buy a house. Flats are cheaper then houses. And the second reason is most people at the time of buying a leasehold were not told that the ground rent will escalate every 10 years or service charge will go out of control. There was no publicity about leasehold at the time like we have now. More people are now aware with the problems of buying a leasehold . So let's not victim blame but blame developers block management companies and freeholders who exploit home owners
If people were educated, and no one bought leaseholds, then all these money grabbing freeholders would be out of pocket.
People are desperate. Not enough freehold properties and rents are insane
If i wanted until I could afford a freehold property, I'd be dead. Leasehold is the only option for some of us.
@@gemma8611 Out of curiosity, how much is your leasehold property?
Impossible to buy anything but leasehold in London....unless you are rich
This is interesting and I enjoyed this video . I own alot of a bags from the brands . I have a real Hermes and a ‘fake’ hermes kelly. The Kelly I took with me to hermes once and the sell’s representative thought it was real so did the customer near me . I let them know it was not from the hermes brand lol. The customer wanted to know where I bought it *suluxy* so she could get one like it lol. Honestly I was not embarrassed about it but was amused that everyone thought it was real . :)
Don't buy a leasehold property, Freehold is the best way.
Not always
@@staedlerok Yes, ALWAYS!
@@bobjames6622 nah. With freehold you can have major costs like roof repair and if you live in London a house is always far away from the centre. For me and my job it’s better a leasehold. It’s closer to my job and the company is taking care of everything, so when I will be back to Italy for my retirement I will just rent the apartment without worries about the roof leak and gas etc,
@@staedlerok And just WHO do you think also pays for ALL repairs under leasehold? That's right, the TENANTS! DUH!
Oh, and with rent, and leasehold you NEVER actually own the property.
@@staedlerokthis is such a dumb example
£14,000 a month lol, I would literally have gone to their offices if I'd got that letter and, well... probably ended up on the news that evening.
The poor can't win anywhere in this world
13:42 how could they expect a common worker to pay £14k a month? That’s ridiculous.
@JanBanJoovi-ol1qv Well, that's what it costs to do the repairs - who instead should pay then?
The company who built the flats in the first place.
@@fhm3762 That would be the best and only fair outcome. But not many companies survive the projects they construct, and there's no guarantee that they will have enough funds.
@@fhm3762 i dont get it if you pay insurance to building to insurance company, why they don't cover that cost ?
We need to tax everyone to house the foreigners though
Welcome to the new UK - without any moral compass.
Leftists are in control
Correct
Leasehold has been around for a lot longer than the new UK
You can take over the management of a leasehold block of flats in the UK!
1. Right to Manage (RTM)
Overview: Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, leaseholders can form a Right to Manage company to take over the management of their building without needing to prove fault by the current managing agent.
Why didn’t the BBC interview the local firefighters in Manchester? Why the fire service condemns the building due to lack of maintenance. This is the easy way out for them . Fire fighting equipment has to maintained annually and equipment is tagged by that vendor. Why did they wait so long to simply pop in one day for an inspection? That’s not how it works, all the equipment and alarms didn’t just fail one day all at the same time. The system is rotten.
Finally some coverage on leasehold properties. Shocking the number of people who buy flats and unaware they don’t own the property and have to pay charges.
How can you buy something and not own it 😭😭 only in the Uk
Same in the USA@@jeffreynanatakyicollins101
Leasehold is how the former prince Chuck and now prince Willie make their money from the Duthchys. Plus they refused to sell them to the building owners. When willie becomes king his first born son will get it. And on and on.
Indeed it is. Exploitive and ironic when Willy is campaigning against homelessness.
Time to dethrone the Royals. They do nothing except hold us all back financially and Charles is a WEF head, that’s says it all really, they are bad for us.
There's a interesting documentary on it in on Channel 4 👍
I'm happy Harry was able to get out with his head still on his neck.
Parasites sounds about right.
It’s disgusting how the government doesn’t care for its British citizens.
Disgusting.
And yet, it's not the government who owns these freeholds, it's limited companies.
I agree, but because of the invasion we’re suffering from
@@tobinhunt4738Owned by mates and donors.
This is why leasehold is so much cheaper than freehold. Read the fine print. There is no free lunch in real estate.
It’s not much cheaper though lol
Never ever buy a lease hold property
Never buy leasehold
In London, it is impossible not too if it is a flat.
@@lily_m3538 Don't buy in London - remove the idea/aspiration from the equation for young people completely. Offer them a reality-check & save them the sleepless nights. It's a fools game in L, unless you're an Oligarch. Any £ spent there lining landlord/developer pockets is dead/silly £ imo.
Both my kids moved there for a few years after graduating, for the experience, to make connections, to land good jobs. They did that, had a great time, made life-long friends, got themselves up the ladder a bit, realised the (significant) limitations/wasted £, then got the hell out.
It's okay as a temporary stop-gap, if you're young & having a bit of fun, but it's a financially crippling experience/commitment for many long-term. It makes zero financial sense.
One positive to come out of covid I guess, is that everyone now knows (including reluctant/archaic employers) that pretty much anyone can work from anywhere nowadays & take advantage of better housing options. When the demand drops, prices, in theory should drop, but it won't happen unless we stop selling every available living space to foreign investor's.
Take your time before diving in, try (rent, but briefly) before you buy, consider the options; there are more than you think, & never, ever buy leasehold, anywhere, but especially not in L !!
It's not bad when the leaseholders also own the freehold, which removes the incentive to fleece.
Exactly. Rent and save.
@@user-ug8wx5er1wSave? I rented for over 15 years, that is about £150k that didn't go to my pocket
Fourteen thousand pounds a month for how long?! Who earns £14,000 a month in the UK after tax, national insurance and pension deduction?
RTM is the way to go. That is Right to Manage, cheap and easy to set up, you just need a majority of leaseholders to agree to set up a RTM. No more dodgy bills, saves a fortune.
Private management company after selling ,they cant make any money , so they increase service charge, and much more and takes the piss
In houses, even if you buy your freehold from a leasehold development, it is very likely that the road and access is still not public and therefore you own a bit of land surrounded by property owned by a private landlord without public access... I noticed that when we were buying and the agent said "no worries, the sellers are buying the freehold" and I picked up on the road, which was "private", therefore not owned by the landlord. See ya
Serfdom hasn't left the UK....horrendous
Serfdom.....in the British DNA.....we are all born prince's and princesses.....civilisation turns us into frogs
I feel so sorry for the people caught in this situation. I expected Britain had better protections in place. It sounds as bad as the USA where the rich take advantage of every legal loophole.
No scam by this is scale is possible without government support ! Criminal neglect in legislations and support of criminal activity.
a common occurence that happened to me when dealing with RMG is when someone first moves into one of their fleecehold managed homes, they screw up the first invoice somehow (for me it was that they sent it to my old address over a year after i'd moved into the new address (THE ONE THAT THE BILL IS FOR DUHH). No attempt to contact me at the new address or on my phone number or email, straight to their debt collection department and so the first i know about the invoice etc i have a huge bill with all the added legal fees... scum bags
Another problem is if you buy a leasehold and there was a mistake in the accounts during the period of the previous owner. They may then come to the new owner to collect the money.
It all comes down to pure greed by these management companies, they take as much money as they can and do as little work as they can possibly get away with. My block had the cladding removed years ago and to this day hasn’t been replaced. Takes months for them to even put light bulbs in block and car park lights
It’s not surprising that Chris is having issues with mould in his flat. The sedum (green) roof above acts like a sponge, trapping water with nowhere for it to drain, which has led to mould spreading throughout his flat. I’m currently working on a project facing the exact same issue, where we’re replacing the green roof entirely on a similar building. This problem arises when the Sedum roofing system hasn't been installed corectly. It's an expensive fix as the main roof will need to be stripped back and started again. Chris should check how often the sedum roof has been maintained, as these roofs require regular upkeep. If the building owner has neglected maintenance, liability for the damage should fall back on them. Hope he get it sorted, I do feel for him as he shouldn't have to pay. It;s also worth checking if the main Roof is still under warranty if it's less then 25 years old, if it is then the building owner should be contacting the roofing contractor who installed the sedum roof in the first place.
i feel for him. hoping he gets legal advice if he can afford it.
All homeowners are only tenants. Your mortgage only purchases the right to rent the property from the state thru council tax and to pass some of your investment on after inheritance taxes. You don’t own anything if the state can impose a charge then take the property off you for non-payment…
What if you own outright without a mortgage? I don’t see how the council can claim your property over missed council tax payments if you’ve bought the place outright?
@@peanutboxes4076thats exactly what happens. Fines for nonpayment of council tax, bailiffs and eventually forced to sell the house to pay the fines… the state can set taxes and fines as it pleases and if it chooses slowly force everyone out of their homes and off their land…
Leasehold orFreehold no one owns nothing in the UK. The Gov own everything including your life , children and family. We are numbers living in a big brother house. Not even when you died they make it easier.Someone must pay thousands for your funeral. It is better to pay rent in the Uk and buy a nice home elsewhere and rent it to make profit 😊
Leaseholders are effectively tenants, but freeholders even if mortgaged up to their eyeballs are not. The government cannot just take your house if you don't pay taxes, however they will attempt to recover the debt and this MAY in some cases lead to a forced sale of the house.. it is uncommon because they prefer other quicker means of recovery.
Not true. There is still private property rights in the UK. The government can’t confiscate your property, but you could be forced to sell to settle debts (private debts, or public debts). Nothing new or unique there. I’d agree that taxes in the UK are too high for the mostly shite services we get, but that’s a separate discussion.
Leasehold is a Long Term rental agreement. Truly ashame this is not explained to the buyers. It is a swindle if not explained.
Wrong! It's in the contract. If they cannot be bothered to educate themselves that's their problem.
@@allykhan8594 yeah thats it. It has nothing to do with ownership
17k to extend the leasehold to sell 1 bedroom flat. 13 months later, just sent to the land registry. Another 14 months queue apparently. Thank you very much . Swindon
Planners are busy with new houses for boat people
Leasehold is a shell game. It can work, but it now seems that I have been relatively lucky in the 40 plus years I have lived in leasehold properties.
Why people still do leasehold, I have no clue. It's horrible.
This is a national disgrace of an epic proportions! Where on earth does this happen apart from the UK???
Netherlands has a similar system (erfpacht). Finland too (vuokratontti).
It’s just a way for the big developers to make money and pass the cost on. To think this is supposed to ease the housing crisis, it’s just a trick to further pummel people who can’t afford to buy a home outright.
Never ever buy leasehold, you are better off renting. If it’s not freehold forget it especially when buying flats on estates as you end up paying for all the other properties maintenance and changes such as new doors etc.
I don’t get it how it becomes so expensive to pay for roof. When i owned flat in Slovakia,it went through complete insulation, repainting, roof- the company owning building took mortgage to xy number of years. The ground rent was €120 per month including water and central heating and all service charges, yes, it goes up every year and it based on the number of people living in your flat, building has 60 flats but never went up more than few € in a decade I owned the flat. It’s not luxury apartments but decent place. Plus if u spend less of water or heating, u are refunded at the end of tax year. I sold my flat and it took a month for the full process, only because the bank has 28 days to approve a mortgage. No bloody leases, surveys. 🤦♀️. I am pretty sure someone still gets to fill up their pockets l, don’t get me wrong but in the UK, buying property is a traumatic experience even with buying house. I ended up buying a freehold because I had a dog and after 5 months of back and forth with solicitors, endless waiting, the leaseholder didn’t want pet despite the agency saying it shouldn’t be a problem and I said I got a pet at the first viewing. I didn’t need a house, I would be happy in the flat. I was asking about it few times throughout the process, always no issue. 95% cash with tiny mortgage, paid for mortgage advisor - wasted money. It fell into pieces, I went further away to fit into my cash budget,no one tells me whether I can have a small dog while working from home! And I got another dog now we have more space and garden for ourselves. FU, British system! I am very grateful, it feels like I dodged a bullet!
It because they pocket the service charge unless they have something big to pay for and even then they inflate the prices to siphon as much money as possible from leaseholders
I am going through exactly tbe same, my home for 16 years. Scammed into a matrix of locked in. It's heartbreaking, I'm stuck to pay extortionate interest rates. It's fraud by deception!!
On the one hand, people purchasing leaseholds are clearly not the brightest sparks. Took me 5 minutes of research to learn I wouldn't touch a leasehold with a 100ft barge pole. On the other hand, the law should protect the most vulnerable of society. Moving forwards, new leaseholds should be banned, blocks of flats should only ever be suitable for rented accommodation with the freeholder taking all the risk. Blatant examples of corruption (14k a month?!) should immediately be classed as fraud/scam/criminal offence.
There's a block in Liverpool City centre and there like 4000 per annum, most of been on market like 12 months plus wonder why 😂😢
😂😂😂
Some of us can't afford freehold. It doesn't mean we are stupid
That is pretty ignorant and arrogant from you to say. Just becauae u did simple google search it doesn’t mean u fully understand the issue when in it, u can get misled too. I bought my propery in 2022 and the whole system is pretty complicated, never heard of anyone where I come from that the process of buying with cash takes more than a month. Just ridicolous, endless exchange of enquiries and extra fees for this and that.
@@gemma8611specially if you live in cities like London
its crazy how these lease holders charge so much for service charger, then when there is a problem they say its the old developer so not there concern wtf
So glad I bumped into this video before buying 🙏
Free holds are sold for the price of a flat in the building and they they come in and try and squeeze every penny they can in profit .no repairs are done just to change fire doors which only need stickers on them the try and bill you for £250,000
Definitely one of the most vulnerable sectors to corruption is the real estate sector, given the lack of housing and opportunities, while a lot of money is laundered in this sector, in addition to the monopoly in the unfair and corrupt system, in addition to its high price and often low quality standards, represents many times an abuse, and this is how many people have become rich of the property scam.
Leasehold it’s a feudal system. Why it’s legal to sell the house but not the land where the house is ?
And not only that charge me maintenance cost for doing nothing?!
Freehold !!
Any owners in these tips with a mortgage should just give the keys back to the bank and walk away. The mortgage provider ownes the property so give the keys back and let them get their money back from who ever they paid. Just mentally treat it as if they have been renting for the period they have been there rather than buying. Know someone that did this years back on a house that went into negative equity, just gave the keys back.
There is no cap on Leasehold costs. It's a big risk and sadly people don't realise it until they get caught out.
Let's not forget kier starmer in opposition to rishi sunak. As PM said, the interest rate was too high, and people were struggling with mortgage hikes. Yet now kier is in charge he has done NOTHING about it. I don't hold much hope for liebour helping people with leasehold with all the already false promises
And he knows all about shaking people down. 🇬🇧
Those are not the only two options. Why pay a fair price for those freeholds? Didn't they make enough money over the years? The whole leasehold things feels more like a scam. My heart is with the victims.
Why do i have to be head human transport on the switch board ????
26:24 how is this crime even possible on hard working buyers. Council tenants screw UK budget and working buyers are punished - disgrace!
Council tenants pay an economic rent for the property they occupy, they aren't screwing anyone. The reason council rents are lower is no profit motivation from the landlord and economy of scale regarding things like financing costs and repairs/maintenance. If you mean housing benefit, anyone renter can claim that and private landlords are who derives most benefit from it, as they're effectively having a private asset paid off at public expense.
Totally agree with you Rachel.
Freehold titles often come up for auction. They are often cheap but allow the buyer to start charging a ground rent and service charge. I have seen freeholds at auction for 3k . They then re sell to the leaseholder for a huge markup . Leaseholds I think have to be offered the freehold before its sold. Just do a search for freehold tiltles for sale.
When people were 'buying' these leasehold flats, did solicitors not explain what the potential risks were? I mean, leasehold is a scam, but it hasn't suddenly changed - it's always been like this.
solicitors, agency all have and take money from this leasehold, nobody will tell you the try about the reality of the leasehold.
Facts it’s a big scam
@@pandav4843bought my council flat didn’t know service charge and ground rent existed until I received a bill via the post
Claiming to be dumb is not an excuse if you sign the contract yourself.
@@user-ug8wx5er1w I guess that's my point. People willingly entered into these contacts. It's not as if there has been a bait and switch.
I have some sympathy for issues relating to the cladding crisis - where clearly developers should be carrying the burden - but on the wider issue of leasehold, it's what they signed up for.
I was considering buying a leasehold flat, now having double thoughts
Just don't do it. It is a mine field. If you dodge one bullet, there will be another one waiting for you. Leaseholds are just legal scams.
I will never buy again a lease hold from private landlord
It’s a disgrace, the freeholders should be responsible for the building infrastructure and the leaseholder for their internal flat considering the ridiculous charges but these companies treat the service charges like pocket money.
What is share of freehold? Same as a freehold property? Thanks
Buying the Freehold for £8k isn't bad considering. I can't understand how houses are leasehold anyway.
U live in flat and just because the house is big but u still live in a same flat u have to pay more wtf that makes zero sense...
Second one - All that grass on the roof is main reason why it stays damp no mater what... sad the building is crying for help and gets only ignorance back. I was literally shocked when i was told that in uk when u buy u buy all defects as well i was like wtf u tying to say site manager??? He said ye patch it up il get the acceptance signature and the rest is history. I couldn't believe what i have heard. So any prick can build a crap house get payed and buyer will go bankrupt trying to repair it... because builder is not responsible how the hell u can be not responsible unbelievable...
Mould needs just 2 things bridge of cold and damp, 36 hours, u have mould.
Main reason in uk people have very poor ventilation or none. U can heat up as much as u like but until u don't get proper ventilation issue will stay. Obviously if there is problem it must be fixed first.
NOT PAINTED OVER!!!!! Never do that it will just keep deteriorating more and more because u trying to hide inevitable. Fix it first let it stay make sure it's not coming back then u can paint. Sorry if don't make sense english is my 5th language...
Scandalous that leaseholders have to pay increased insurance premiums because of cladding risk. Also that Leaseholders have higher interest payments as Stakeholders kick the can down the road deciding the specification of any replacement cladding. Has cladding remediation being delayed because of Grenfell report as stakeholders assess if they can claim against cladding manufacturers?
I think if people own a home, they should be able to sign a form to say they understand the risk rather than being cut out of their home altogether.
i couldn't imagine opening a letter for £1.4K monthly service charge. For the last lady who hasn't been in her home for 4 years how can she have to pay her mortgage and not actually live in the house, haven't the owners of the building committed fraud? I feel empathy for all of them but I have the distinct feeling the tax payer will end up bailing out the companies, which i do not agree with.
It's crazy, but surely the mortgage lender can assist the leaseholders to protect their interest in the property by way of the mortgage loan. It's interesting that you never hear them supporting the mortgagee. That's because many have themselves invested in leasehold properties and they stand to lose from this cash cow. Leasehold has really only become a bad nightmare due to the serious exploitation in the last few years.
I went through exactly this problem. Feel very tricked for the sales agent. Coming from another country made it really challenging for me as I'm far away from being rich. It is depressing to see the money you worked so hard for disappearing because of that.
I dont see why the government cannot create an alternative system then apply a 100% tax on income from existing leaseholds. Then leaseholders and free holders can voluntarily move over to the new system.
14k a month….. who on earth thought that anyone could actually pay that? Thats 168k a year… a single person would need to be paid 300k just to cover that bill after income tax.
Flats are good, leasehold is not too bad , its private freeholder and there management companies, horrible ,
I wish they’d explain the purpose of leaseholds in flats….
A leasehold for a house is very difficult to justify but for a flat it’s important because of shared spaces and the fact you can’t own the air, flats are typically built on top of each over and you can’t own split a single piece of land between all the owners of the flats above iit
With flats, There are many other ways to manage this and other countries do it much better. For instance, one way is the freehold can be split and managed by the flat owners themselves.
The government should look into these issues people will lose it eventually..its completely unfair
Agree with Wallace. The govt holds much of the blame
solicitors, agency all have and take money from this leasehold, nobody will tell you the try about the reality of the leasehold.
It's not their job to warn you. It's YOUR job to do your due diligence.
@@bobjames6622 is try but they know all details and they will not tell you..is impossible to find out all details... unless you are working daily with these lease..
Protect them now
Never ever ever buy leasehold!! You will never be free!!
That's why I'm very skeptic about buying a house in the uk
There is no freeholds in London
This is horrendous
This is horrible and criminal.
As an external wall fire risk assessor there is absolutely no need to close down a whole building like that. You put adequate risk mitigation measures in place. The world has gone mad. Noone wants to take responsibility, if in doubt just close it down. Terrible mentality. I should also say the worst run, worst maintained buildings in my experience have been those where the residents run the management association.
If the defects are there and the flats are sold share of freehold then the residents still have the issues on their hands to deal with, they just get to argue with each other rather their freeholder. The residents owning the freehold doesnt fix the issues…
Theres some nice apartment around the corner from mine, sevice charges £230 a month 😮😮😮 for what ??? And thats without your rent or mortgage.
And they are only gunna go one way
This service charge is money making skim, you buy the house but you dont earn it, lease should be abolish completely
It’s a feudal system so English nobility can keep their wealth and land for generations.
Isn’t it all about the government’s ability & efficiency?
This is why I prefer renting
We're building slums in this country. The state of that.
I’m down sizeing to a 2 bed flat from my house
It’s a leasehold flat
I’m thinking of pulling out after watching this
It's a minefield, I have friends who were made homeless as their freeholder built over their flat. They are still fighting a legal battle (2 years and counting) to get compensation for flooded flats, damaged walls and ceilings, and loss of space as the builders built into their flat.. crazy, no help from the government.
If you can afford freehold, stick with it, don't give up the control.
Not all leaseholds are the same. I have lived in leasehold properties for over 40 years and only experienced a bit of negativity when I lived in a local authority, low rise block. The council carried out a poor quality 'major works' renovation for which my share as a leaseholder was some £10,000. I refused to pay for work that was not carried out and the council saw my point of view. I sold up and am now living in a private block that is owned by the residents. My advice is not to buy into any of those big, new developments OR an ex-local authority flat.
Keep your house. You have more freedom
Move to Scotland to buy a flat. Im not rich and it would be cheaper to move up there from England for a few reasons. English property is a ripoff. This leasehold issue is a nightmare, imagine not being able to afford it and not able to sell up either ! I feel so sorry for those who bought nice new cosy places to live and now under huge financial stress. Its all wrong.
Yep Scotland has same European laws. Rents increases capped at 3% and freehold properties.
It does look like a high maintenance building, with 5:59 flat roof and lifts etc etc. There would always be these maintenance costs no matter what legal structure. How would you negotiate an agreement with all your neighbours to have the roof repairs done, or all the windows replaced. If a number of neighbours refused to cooperate with the total costs what would you do,? Owning a freehold would bring bigger problems.
If those 20% of British households threaten to change the way they vote this will get fixed in a heartbeat.
Robbing the public anyway they can
Unfortunately, that's leasehold for you!! Need due diligence prior to buying property!!!
Someone selling you a Leasehold is saying 'You buy it but I'll still own it'.
Couple of choice words to that.
My niece pays as much for her lease as her mortgage now!! Its a big scam
That's why's you have to read the details, because always buy freehold property.that the best way forward.