黑洞社区

Countryside has admitted selling leasehold homes under controversial 鈥渄oubling鈥� clauses similar to those that have recently mired Taylor Wimpey in bad publicity.

The use of leaseholds on house sales has sparked controversy since Taylor Wimpey鈥檚 鈥渄oubling鈥� leases were revealed in the autumn, leading to debates in parliament and a Facebook group entitled the National Leasehold Campaign gaining 4,000 members.

Last month Taylor Wimpey announced a 拢130m writedown related to the leasehold homes problem and a fund to help its affected customers.

Under 鈥渄oubling鈥� leaseholds, homeowners are charged a ground rent that doubles at certain intervals, typically every five, 10 or 15 years, putting financial pressure on leaseholders.

Leaseholds affect around 1.6 million households and while they are common for flat purchases, since the financial crisis they have been increasingly used on house sales.

Countryside told 黑洞社区 it had used 鈥渄oubling鈥� leases in the past on a 鈥渧ery small number of sites鈥�, but said it was not planning to take action to help customers who bought these houses.

The housebuilder鈥檚 chief executive Ian Sutcliffe said the firm had ensured that where possible all houses were sold on a freehold basis, but added: 鈥淲hat we were doing was absolutely in line with industry practice at the time.

鈥淲e absolutely refute that people didn鈥檛 know what they were getting into. It was clear in the literature, and if they didn鈥檛 feel informed the question has to go back to their solicitor.鈥�

The Home Builders Federation, Taylor Wimpey and Countryside said that via the conveyancing process each buyer receives independent legal advice.

Taylor Wimpey said it is under no legal obligation to do anything, but at the time of its announcement last month, accepted that 鈥渢he introduction of these doubling clauses was not consistent with our high standards of customer service鈥�.

Pete Redfern, the firm鈥檚 chief executive, told 黑洞社区: 鈥淲e鈥檝e listened to the concerns and difficulties that some of our customers have faced [and] we are sorry for the worry this has caused them [鈥�] This is about doing what we think is right.鈥�

A 黑洞社区 investigation into the leasehold problem, published this week, also reveals that some affected households are preparing legal action against solicitors over alleged failures to advise them about the risks of leasehold contracts. Adviser Leasehold Solutions says it has just launched its first professional negligence case, involving 175 properties.