LEASEHOLDERS CLAIMS HAVE BEEN VALIDATED BY THE CMA
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-finds-evidence-of-serious-issues-in-leasehold-selling
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PRESS RELEASE FOR PUBLICATION: NLC RESPONSE TO CMA ANNOUNCEMENT: EVIDENCE OF MISSELLING LEASEHOLD HOMES
The National Leasehold Campaign founders are delighted with today’s announcement by the CMA that they intend to take enforcement action and are preparing to take specific cases against developers to tackle the mis-selling & unfair lease terms.
This is as a direct result of the colossal efforts of three years campaigning by Katie Kendrick (Founder); Jo Darbyshire (Co-founder) and Cath Williams (Co-founder) who believe they were all misled during the purchasing process of their homes. They report being given misinformation at the point of sale re the cost of buying their freehold and were not told their freeholds would be sold on to a third party investor without their knowledge.
The news has been welcomed by the 16.5K members of the NLC and more widely by leaseholders throughout England and Wales which number around 6 million home “owners”.
Katie Kendrick states “We would like to thank the CMA for this work and for listening to us – we know it will not be a quick fix but are ready to help in any way we can. We have the evidence and are not too battle weary to continue with this fight. It is really refreshing to hear our claims validated by the CMA today. Whilst the government proposes to ban future houses being sold leasehold in the future we can not and will not allow them to forget those who are already trapped through no fault of their own. If it was wrong for the future it was wrong for the past”
The NLC are very optimistic that the outcome of the proposed CMA prosecutions will result in some form of compensation for those already trapped in mis-sold leasehold properties.
Jo Darbyshire stated “ Information critical to my decision making was deliberately withheld at the point of sale. Had I been given that information I would have bought my freehold from the developer for c.£5K. They sold my freehold on and now it will cost thousands more. It’s time for them to do the right thing and make sure I’m not financially disadvantaged as a result of their systematic mis-selling”
The NLC also hope that any compensation scheme will help those who have had no choice but to pay out large sums for their freeholds to be able to get on with their lives. Many have been forced into this position at the mercy of third party freehold investors to change jobs, start a family and buy a larger property or to downsize when retiring.
Cath Williams states “I needed to move but was advised by the state agent that finding a buyer for a leasehold house would be difficult and its value was £20,000 less than the freehold market. I had absolutely no option but to buy the freehold and it cost me a total of £15,000 to include both sets of legal fees. I had to borrow from family. I want that money back because my house should never have been leasehold in the first place”