Thousands more homeowners who paid a doubled ground rent on their property will receive a refund after the competition watchdog cracked down on “unfair” leasehold practices. More than 5,000 households in the UK will be compensated after being caught in contracts that saw their ground rents double in price every 10 years.
Many of these homeowners became trapped in homes that they could not sell or mortgage as a result of the costly terms, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said. The CMA previously investigated housing giant Taylor Wimpey which agreed to scrap the terms that were causing ground rents to double in December.
And following further investigations, nine more companies that had bought freeholds from Taylor Wimpey have committed to axing the problematic doubling terms, the CMA announced on Wednesday. A further four national developers – Crest Nicholson, Redrow, Miller Homes and Vistry – have agreed to work with the companies who purchased their freeholds to remove the unfair clauses.
