Tenants ‘trapped’ in homes they struggle to sell are among thousands who stand to benefit after Aviva and Persimmon agree to changes following investigation by competition regulator .
Hundreds of people living in homes whose freehold properties are owned by Aviva will be affected after it announced it would remove clauses from the contract that allow ground rents to double every 10 to 15 years.
Land rents will return to the original amounts and tenants affected by the “doubling” clauses will be reimbursed for the surpluses paid, said the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the settlement was an “extremely important step”
Thousands more will benefit after home builder Persimmon says it will offer leasehold homeowners the option to buy full ownership of their property at the reduced price of £ 2,000.
Anyone who has previously purchased freehold ownership of the business at a higher price will receive a discount, under the agreement.
It follows that the owners were led to believe that they could buy their freehold property at a certain price “only to find out later that the price had increased by thousands of pounds without warning”.
CMA Managing Director Andrea Coscelli said: “This is a real victory for thousands of tenants – for too long people have found themselves trapped in homes they may find it difficult to sell or have been faced with surprisingly high prices to buy their freehold property.
“We now expect other real estate developers and investors to follow Aviva and Persimmon’s lead.
“Otherwise, they can expect to face legal action.”
Persimmon said the deal greatly expanded existing regimes
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said practices such as doubling ground rent “have no place in our housing market” and hailed the settlement as “an extremely important step”.
“We have also introduced legislation that will protect the future …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-06-23 07:26:00
