Guest Blog by Marie Lovell, Member of Learning Disability England
I was talking to my friend Chris who is hoping to make a documentary about leaseholds.
He told me about many examples of people who have bought a flat or house, sometimes using ‘help to buy’ or ‘shared ownership’.
They then found they were stuck with expensive service charges or ground rent, or landlords who don’t do repairs.
Some people needed to move house for work or to be near family and they can’t sell their house.
This is because when you buy a property that is leasehold you don’t own the land on which it is built – just the right to live there for however long the lease is.
Nearly all flats in England are leasehold and more and more new houses too.
I was really shocked as my son Bill has always planned to use some money his Grandad left him to do shared ownership of a flat.
We thought this would give him a secure home but now I’m not so sure.
Chris is working on the documentary with the National Leasehold Campaign.
If you have a leasehold property – or if you are thinking about housing options and considering it, and you might want to appear in the documentary please contact me through Learning Disability England.
