The house buyers are stuck with long term lease properties and then hit with ground rents that can make it impossible to sell the homes on – and in some cases these rents double every decade, resulting in costs rising to tens of thousands of pounds per annum. 

Protection

Buyers are supposed to be protected from toxic contracts by solicitors handling conveyancing for a fee, typically more than £1,000 and this is where lawyers are being attacked by customers who claim their lawyers failed to spot problems with soaring ground rents.

Developer recommended solicitors

Many used lawyers recommended by the firm that built their homes and, in some cases, buyers are even given a discount on legal fees meaning the builders only had to deal with a small number of solicitors. That in turn means that one or to solicitors are sharing a large amount in fees from the development.

Significant case

More than 42,500 new leasehold properties were sold in 2015  and commentators have argued that payouts for negligence could hit £578 million for that year alone.