{"id":171998,"date":"2026-06-16T18:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/the-developers-got-greedy-the-women-who-took-on-the-leasehold-scandal-and-won\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T20:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T13:19:09","slug":"the-developers-got-greedy-the-women-who-took-on-the-leasehold-scandal-and-won","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/the-developers-got-greedy-the-women-who-took-on-the-leasehold-scandal-and-won\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The developers got greedy\u2019: the women who took on the leasehold scandal \u2013 and won"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nKatie Kendrick, Cath Williams and Jo Darbyshire were subject to tens of thousands of pounds of hidden costs as their new-build freeholds soared in value, making their homes unsellable. Their campaign could finally end the \u2018feudal\u2019 system in England and WalesWhen a leaflet about leasehold injustice landed on Cath Williams\u2019 doorstep in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, nearly a decade ago, she barely gave it a second thought, tossing it straight into the bin. Had she given it more than a cursory glance, she\u2019d have read about how residents on her new-build estate had found out the leaseholds for their homes had been sold without their knowledge, which could cost them all thousands of pounds. \u201cSometimes you get things through the door and you go, \u2018what are they on about?\u2019\u201d recalls the 69-year-old retired university lecturer. It was of no interest to her. Or so she thought.Williams hadn\u2019t realised her home was leasehold when she decided to buy it. It was never mentioned in any promotional material, she says, and the word \u201cleasehold\u201d was only later added to her paperwork in pencil by an estate agent four weeks before her move in date \u2013 by then she had already paid her deposit and it was too late to back out. Her unease about what this would mean built over time and it soon became clear it would be a huge headache for her: any alterations to her home would require paying the leaseholder an ever-increasing permission fee, the property would decrease in value as the lease got shorter, and the ground rent could increase drastically over time. Ultimately, it could leave her trapped and unable to sell her home. Continue reading…
\n
\nSource : theguardian.com
\nRead more…\u2018The developers got greedy\u2019: the women who took on the leasehold scandal \u2013 and won<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Katie Kendrick, Cath Williams and Jo Darbyshire were subject to tens of thousands of pounds...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-IKa","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62184,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/victory-new-build-leaseholds-banned-but-what-of-those-already-trapped\/","url_meta":{"origin":171998,"position":0},"title":"Victory! New-build leaseholds banned \u2026 but what of those already trapped?","date":"July 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The government has proposed a total ban on new-build leasehold houses, but existing homebuyers say they remain trapped, forced to pay large fees. We report on the latest twists in the growing scandalMany leasehold homeowners face being charged hundreds of pounds just to obtain permission to switch to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":99792,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/ground-rents-consultation-begins-on-ending-leasehold-abuses\/","url_meta":{"origin":171998,"position":1},"title":"Ground rents: consultation begins on ending leasehold abuses","date":"October 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Majority of new-build homes would be sold as freehold and leaseholders helped to buy their leases outThe government is consulting on plans to combat leasehold abuse, including a crackdown on rogue landlords.The majority of new-build houses would be sold as freehold under proposals being put out for consultation on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":123947,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/taylor-wimpey-drops-costly-leasehold-terms-after-investigation\/","url_meta":{"origin":171998,"position":2},"title":"Taylor Wimpey drops costly leasehold terms after investigation","date":"December 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Thousands will be freed from contracts where ground rent charges doubled every 10 yearsThousands of people who bought leasehold homes from the housebuilder Taylor Wimpey will be liberated from terms where their ground rent charges doubled every 10 years, after a long-running investigation by the UK competition watchdog. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62190,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/leasehold-tycoon-man-whose-firms-control-40000-uk-homes\/","url_meta":{"origin":171998,"position":3},"title":"Leasehold tycoon: man whose firms control 40,000 UK homes","date":"July 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r As controversy grows over revelations that leaseholders are being trapped by spiralling ground rents, we look at the property empire of James TuttiettHe does not appear on any rich list but he has built a property empire that rivals that of the Duke of Westminster. Companies controlled by James\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54631,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/taylor-wimpey-compensation-offer-is-pr-con-claim-victims-of-leasehold-scandal\/","url_meta":{"origin":171998,"position":4},"title":"Taylor Wimpey compensation offer is PR con, claim victims of leasehold scandal","date":"May 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Some homeowners believe they will still be left in the clutches of ground rent companies and have to pay excessive chargesTaylor Wimpey last month offered \u00a3130m to buyers trapped in new-build homes with spiralling ground rent contracts. It was a move initially greeted with glee by victims of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36342,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/government-promises-to-stamp-out-abuses-of-new-build-ground-rent-scandal\/","url_meta":{"origin":171998,"position":5},"title":"Government promises to stamp out abuses of new-build ground rent scandal","date":"November 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Sajid Javid pledges to \u2018do more\u2019 as Guardian campaign reveals that some buyers of new-build homes face ground rents which double every 10 yearsThe government has promised to \u201cstamp out\u201d abuses highlighted in a Guardian campaign that revealed how some buyers of new-build homes have been left with virtually\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171998"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171999,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171998\/revisions\/171999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}