The new property trap affecting thousands

[Crazy council]

from the bbc

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38827661

Katie Kendrick bought her home from Bellway in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, three years ago for £214,000."It was supposed to be our forever home," she tells the BBC's, sitting in the living room of her four-bedroom house. "But it's the biggest mistake I've ever made."
Katie knew the house was leasehold - meaning she owned the property for the length of her lease agreement - but claims she was told by the sales representative that because of the long lease it was "as good as freehold"; a property owned outright.
She thought nothing of it, and says she was told she would be able to buy her freehold after two years, believing it would cost between £2,000 and £4,000.
But a year and a half later, she received a letter from Bellway saying her freehold had been sold to an investment company, which was now quoting £13,300 for her to buy it.
"At the moment I feel completely blind and in a corner and don't know which way to turn. There's legal action but that is very costly," she says.

Its quite a proffitable investment statergy atm

[enaid]

Re: The new property trap affecting thousands

When Clare Budgen bought her first house in Ellesmere Port in 2009 for £155,000 the last thing on her mind was the lease. Taylor Wimpey, the developer, arranged the lease on a 999-year basis, so what could the then 22-year-old possibly have had to worry about?
But just seven years later, when she looked into buying the freehold (to enable her to sell the home more easily in the future) she was astonished to find that, first, Taylor Wimpey had sold her freehold to another company, E&J Estates, and, second, it wanted £32,000.


https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/oct/29/new-builds-house-buyers-leasehold-property-trap