After CMA action, thousands of leaseholders who paid a doubled ground rent will receive refunds and 9 more companies will remove these costly terms from leasehold contracts
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has secured undertakings from 9 companies that bought freeholds from leading housing developer Taylor Wimpey. A further 4 national developers – Crest Nicholson, Redrow, Miller Homes and Vistry – have also agreed to work with the companies who purchased their freeholds to remove doubling terms. The move will impact over 5,000 households throughout the UK, with many who paid a doubled rent receiving a refund.
All 9 firms must now remove problematic contract terms that cause ground rents to double in price every 10 years. These terms can lead to people being trapped in homes they cannot sell or mortgage. The firms will also remove contract terms which were originally doubling clauses, but were converted so the ground rent increased in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI). The CMA believes that the original doubling clauses were unfair and should therefore have been fully removed – not replaced with another term that still increases the rent.
This action brings the total number of homeowners that have benefitted from the CMA’s investigation to over 20,000.
All affected leaseholders will now see their ground rents remain at the original amount – i.e. when the property was first sold – and this will not increase over time. The 9 freeholders have also agreed to refund residential leaseholders who had already paid out under doubled ground rent terms.
Sarah Cardell, interim Chief Executive of the CMA, said:
Secretary of State for Levelling Up Greg Clark said:
Since 2019, the CMA has sought to tackle issues around the possible mis-selling of leasehold homes and contract terms it believes are unfair. Its investigations involving 7 leading housing developers – and businesses who purchased freeholds from these firms – have led to landmark changes:
As the investigation moves into the final stages, the CMA is engaging with additional firms, including the Abacus Land and Adriatic Land investment group, which bought freeholds from Taylor Wimpey.
Notes to Editors