Transfer houses

Thanks to Help to Buy, many builders started selling houses on a lease basis when, traditionally, the houses had always been wholly owned. Over time, this became a debatable issue in which the Government felt the need to intervene.

Some of the country’s home builders have been accused of putting profit before their social conscience while realizing that they need to build homes for families to whom they also have shareholders to answer to.

Land banking

The media had made public that there was a situation with the land bank.

Land banking is a real estate investment plan that involves the purchase of large blocks of undeveloped land in order to sell the land at a profit when it has been approved for development.

Thanks to the consolidation, some builders have inherited land in their organizations that is on lease.

It is a debatable issue that properties are offered for sale both under lease and freehold so that buyers can make an informed decision.

What about people?

Many people had felt that the market had leaned too far towards leasing when it came to light how much profit the Builders had been making from the back of the leases.

Things came to a head when the CEO of one of the UK’s most prominent builders received a bonus of over £ 100 million. At the time, this was one of the largest paid bonuses in business history.

Some rental homeowners were surprised when they were quoted thousands of pounds in fees when they asked for permission to make modifications to their homes.

The fees were being collected by their leasing management companies.

Some of the annual land rents would double every ten years and homeowners could find that selling their home in the future, once these increases have started, would be more difficult.

In parliament

After notifying his MPs and having the issue debated in Parliament, the Government agreed that if he was buying a house (not a flat or apartment), then it is reasonable that he owns freehold property.

What can you do?

If you are in the situation of owning one of these houses and did not realize if it was a lease, then you should have reported it. If you believe that the attorney acting on your behalf did not provide you with all the information about the lease you signed, you should immediately contact him again to investigate why.

You can contact the owner at any time if you are interested in buying the freehold from him.

In addition to leases, there is the problem of service charges.

When city councils grant home builders permission to build on the land, they do not always agree to adopt common areas as

• Grass border

• Roads

That means that the maintenance of these areas must be outsourced, usually to a private company. The owners of the area then make a financial contribution to this maintenance work in addition to their municipal tax, this can happen if the house is for rent or in freehold.

Service charges

The costs of service charges can increase. Sometimes residents of the area come together to form an association that allows them to choose a different service provider.

If you are considering purchasing a rental property, consult with your attorney regarding the lease.

It’s easy to get carried away with the excitement of buying a home, but you also need to realize that it’s an important investment decision that you need to think about carefully.