‘Buying a flat ruined my life’: Leaseholders plead for tougher legislation against home ownership ‘scam’
When Chris Hayes bought his first property in 2017 aged just 28, he didn’t realise the decision would “ruin his life”.
The flat, in central Manchester, was newly built when he moved in. But within a year water started leaking from the “badly built roof” and he is now facing a £170,000 bill to repair it.
The 34-year-old says paying that would leave him “homeless, bankrupt and possibly even jobless”, as going bankrupt would disqualify him from his profession in financial services.
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But Chris, not the developer, is liable for the costs under the terms of his lease – the “feudal” arrangement that allows someone to buy a property on land or in a building they don’t own.
“The biggest mistake of my life was buying this flat,” he said. “It’s basically ruined my life.”
Chris Hayes’ flat is ‘95% damp and humidity’
Water ingress in Chris Hayes’ flat
Chris is one of a dozen leaseholders who spoke to Sky News as the government’s flagship Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill makes its way through parliament.
Ministers say the legislation will stop “abuses” in the controversial system by making it easier and cheaper for people to extend their lease, buy the right to their freehold and gain the right to manage their block.
But leaseholders say it doesn’t go far enough in protecting them from being “extorted” by freeholders, who own the land they lease, and managing agents, who typically run building services on the landlords’ behalf.
Water damage in Chris’s flat
Ceiling damage in Chris’s flat from a badly built roof
Chris said he complained about the roof leaking as far back as 2018 but “nothing was done to rectify this” and the problems are now so bad, the insurance provider “is refusing to pay out”.
To fund the repairs, his service charges for 2024 were raised to £14,000 a month days before Christmas, and he has been told he will have to leave his home for seven months while the roof is fixed, and cover the cost of the temporary accommodation himself.
He is weighing up his legal options. But he isn’t feeling hopeful.
‘My £800,000 dream flat is now worthless’
Almost 200 miles away in north London, Dan Bruce has spent five years and £300,000 in legal fees fighting for redress over problems to his building that was constructed so poorly, a structural engineer has assessed the whole thing might have to be demolished.
Rotting timber in Dan’s flat
Internal cracks in Dan’s walls
Dan, 40, poured his life savings into the £800,000 apartment in Camden, which is now effectively worthless as he can’t sell it. The property was built in 2018 but almost immediately after moving in, he began noticing serious defects ranging from cracks in the external wall to ceiling leaks and rotting timber.
The government intervened to ask Camden Council to issue a remediation notice against the developer – with Housing Secretary Michael Gove even calling the situation “deplorable”. But under the terms of Dan’s lease that would have allowed the developer, who is also the freeholder, “to charge us to fix their own shoddy work”, Dan said.
Instead, he has had to spend thousands of pounds in an “exhausting” legal fight against the developers, contractors and insurers involved in signing off the building as safe.
A structural engineer assessed Dan’s building might have to be demolished
Collapsed ceiling in Dan’s Camden building
Rotted ceiling, rusted and deflected structural steel beam and rotted wooden joists all from water ingress due to defective terrace in Dan’s flat
Dan, who has yet to receive a penny in compensation, said it has taken a “huge toll on his mental and physical health”, with the stress inflaming his psoriasis and “draining me of the energy to do things I used to enjoy”.
While his case highlights the wider issue of poor workmanship and weak consumer protection in the new-build sector, it also goes to show the deep unfairness embedded in the leasehold system, he added.
“Why is it that when it benefits the freeholder, you’re a leaseholder, but when it doesn’t, you’re a homeowner? I shouldn’t have to deal with any of this as all I really have is a piece of paper saying I am allowed to occupy this flat.”
He called the government’s bill “weak” and said it should include measures to prevent leaseholders from having to pay for latent defects.
Chris added: “There’s so much further the bill needs to go with regulation around management companies as they seem to be able stick bills at you with no rhyme or reason.”
Dan Bruce has spent £300,000 in legal fees to get compensation
Dan says the issues are taking a toll on his physical and mental health
External wall cracks in Dan’s building
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The proportion of new-build houses sold as leasehold rose from 7% in 1995 to a peak of 15% in 2016, according to government data. There are five million leasehold properties in England in total – equivalent to one in five dwellings.
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The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, championed by Mr Gove, will abolish leasehold on new houses but not new flats, which make up 70% of leasehold properties.
Its main provisions include relaxing the criteria required for leaseholders to extend the length of a lease, buy the freehold and manage their buildings. It will also introduce standardised service charges to increase transparency and protect leaseholders from paying for their freeholders’ legal costs when challenging bills.
Mr Gove said this will ensure leaseholders can “take back control of their property” and ensure service charges, as well as ground rents, are transparent and “reasonable”.
Leaseholders say defective newbuild homes have ‘ruined their lives’
But Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who has spent 20 years campaigning to abolish leasehold and recently made a documentary on it, said the bill is “133 pages of tinkering with a fundamentally unjust system”.
“Leasehold needs abolishing, not updating. It’s a relic of a feudal system.”
Leasehold system ‘rotten to its core’
Mr Gove had promised the scrap the system entirely but was reportedly forced to row back on the pledge over concerns there was not enough time before the next general election to enact such a major reform.
The English leasehold system has its origins in the 11th century and is deeply entrenched in landownership and property laws.
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Michael Gove: Leasehold ‘unfair form of property ownership’.
There have long been calls to abolish it, with campaigners calling it “rotten to its core”.
Those who spoke to Sky News detailed issues ranging from inflated service charges and ground rents to a lack of transparency over costs, threatening behaviour from management agents, excessive administration fees and building insurance and disproportionate costs to extend leases or buy the freehold – with many cases of the freehold being sold without them even realising.
Many described the system of homeownership as a “scam” they were kept in the dark about the true extent of what they would have to pay.
Mum-of-two Sherren Kerr didn’t anticipate any issues when she bought a house in Camden in 2016 that was advertised as a “virtual freehold”, with a 999-year lease and no ground rent or service charges – only building insurance. But that shot up from £800 a year to £2,500 a year when the freehold “was sold unbeknownst to me”.
She said the situation was causing a “huge amount of stress and depression”.
“There is nowhere to turn when faced with these bills. This is my family home and they on several occasions have made it quite clear that I am just a tenant.”
The National Leasehold Campaign wants to see the system abolished. Pic:NLC
The National Leasehold Campaign call leasehold ‘rotten to its core’. Pic: NLC
‘It’s feels like the post office scandal’
Sky News has also seen evidence of leaseholders being threatened with forfeiture – which enables a landlord to seize a leasehold property – for asking for basic details about how their bills have been calculated. Redress schemes to complain are lengthy and expensive and the outcomes are not legally binding, allowing freeholders to “act with absolute impunity” said one young mum, who did not wish to be named.
“It feels like a scandal similar to the postmaster one where innocent people’s lives and mental health are being destroyed by bullies who will not play by the rules.”
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Leaseholders who can’t afford to stay in their properties have few routes out because the punitive charges make it nearly impossible to sell- leaving them effectively trapped.
Gill Potter, 56, says her buy-to-let flat in Hertfordshire is a “worthless asset” because of a “toxic ground rent clause” that states the amount payable will rise every 10 years by inflation. This is a charge freeholders can collect simply for owning the land – not for any service – with cases of it being as high as £8,000 per year, according to Mr Gardiner.
‘It’s a scam’
Gill’s is currently a fraction of that, £250 per year, but her buyer’s lender refused to offer a mortgage unless the ground rent was capped – something her freehold would not agree to.
Gill Potter can’t sell her flat because of a ‘toxic’ ground rent clause
She is desperate to sell as mortgage rates have increased from £268 a month to £1187. However seeking a Deed of Variation – effectively a new lease – will cost her between £20,000 to £30,000.
Gill said: “I feel as though I was mis-sold my property because I was unaware of the implications of that clause buried in the long and densely worded legal document and apparently so were my solicitors who didn’t mention it at the time of purchase.
“With leasehold you’re not buying the flat. You’re buying the right to live in the flat. It’s a scam.”
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Barry Gardiner: Leaseholders facing ‘exorbitant’ ground rents for ‘no service’
The National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) are calling for ground rents to be reduced to a peppercorn value – effectively zero, as part of the bill. The government is running a consultation on capping existing ground rents, having abolished new ones, but no decision has been made yet.
The NLC urged the government to “be on the right side of the people” amid a “David and Goliath battle” against freeholders who are pushing back against the proposals. They ultimately want the government to make commonhold mandatory.
Labour said it will be down to them to abolish this “archaic and iniquitous system” if they get into government, but have vowed to try and strengthen the bill with amendments including the regulation of managing agents and the abolition of forfeiture.
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will make the long-term and necessary changes to improve homeownership for millions of leaseholders across England and Wales.
“We do not think it is fair that many leaseholders face unregulated ground rents for no guaranteed service in return – that is why we have just consulted on a range of options to cap ground rents for existing leases.”
Evie likes scary movies, musicals and Taylor Swift – but there is something that sets her apart.
The 16-year-old hates the way other children at school casually joke about suicide.
“People saying things like ‘I’m going to kill myself if I have to sit another maths test’, you’d be surprised how often people say things like that,” Evie Roodhouse tells me.
“People don’t understand the seriousness, saying they are ‘depressed’ as if it’s a positive thing. I think it’s become even a trend that some people think is cool or funny.”
Evie and younger sister Ada lost their father in 2018, and what they rarely tell anyone is that was suicide. However, Evie’s approach to this deeply personal subject is about to change. She has decided to give a school assembly on the subject.
Evie, Ada and their dad
Eight-year-old sister Ada supports Evie’s decision and has experienced her own frustrations: “She [Evie] gets people joking about it,” says Ada, “In my school I just get people, like, complaining about their parents being gone for a week, say on holiday, especially their dad. ‘My dad’s going to this place for a week, and I won’t get to see him.’ ‘Oh he’s not here on Father’s Day.’ Or, ‘he’ll be away for a whole month, that’s almost as much as you.’ – It’s not. It’s really not.”
It’s entirely understandable that, up until now, Evie has been extremely private around the cause of her father’s death. Her presentation on the subject for a room of her peers at Brighton Hill Community School in Basingstoke, would surely be one of the most courageous school assemblies ever given.
The night before, I met up with Evie along with Mother Caroline and sister Ada. “This is the first time I’ve openly shared my own personal experience, my story so that’s where the nerves are coming in,” Evie says as we get on to the subject of her presentation.
Evie speaks to Sky’s Jason Farrell
Her previous experience of confiding in friends is that their response varies between asking invasive questions, wanting details that Evie doesn’t want to share, or they feel awkward and change the subject. What Evie wants is for people to be able to talk about the subject and understand how to talk about it, especially if they themselves are struggling.
“With mental health we know that opening up and talking about it is the best thing you can do,” she says. “I think we understand ourselves better if we talk about our mental health. Communication is the best way around the stigma.”
However, this conversation around Evie’s home dining table is going to take us to some dark places, and it occurs to me how difficult it must have been for Caroline to explain what happened, to her young children. Did she have a choice? Could she have invented some other form of death to protect them from the truth?
Caroline explains her decision to tell them. “I had no idea Steve was going to take his own life. On the day I found out, luckily a friend of mine contacted an amazing charity called Winston’s Wish and they gave me some important advice, and that was honesty.
“However, uncomfortable that was, however brutal that was at the time. I’m grateful for that advice – because it’s meant that we’ve always had trust between us.”
Ada and mum Caroline
Suicide rates in the UK have remained roughly the same for the last two decades, although the 7,055 deaths recorded in 2023 was the highest rate since 1999.
Men are three times more likely to take their own lives, and with Evie and Ada’s father there was no warning and no note to explain why.
Caroline says loss by suicide is “grief with a microphone”. One of the hardest things for her to manage has been her feeling of abandonment.
“I wanted to talk to Steve, and he’s the person responsible for not being here. Trying to get your head round the fact that, yes, they took their own life, but they weren’t in a rational state at that point in time, but then you’re feeling angry at the same time. It’s tiring. It’s exhausting.”
Eight-year-old Ada picks up: “You don’t blame them for being sad – but you’re also angry that they are not here.”
“…And that they didn’t tell you that they were struggling,” adds Caroline.
“They act all happy and fine. It’s quite unusual,” says Ada.
“It doesn’t make sense, does it?” offers Caroline. It is just a glimpse into the impossible conversations, the heartbreak and tears this family has endured.
Photographs of Steve with his children tell of a loving husband and father, hugging his children close, taking pride in his girls and valuing his precious time with them.
Evie tries to explain her own feelings on this, “Rather than someone being taken away from you – that person’s chosen to take themselves away from you.”
“They don’t want to be with you,” says Ada.
Evie picks up: “There’s sadness that they must have been struggling – but you made that decision. You must have thought whatever you had going on, was a bigger deal than me needing a father in my life, and that’s been a big thing for me.”
But Caroline has a consoling thought – a moment she says that changed everything. “It wasn’t that long ago maybe last year I was asked a question that completely knocked me off my feet – and took away most of my anger. I was asked by somebody – ‘What do you think Steve would say if he could come back and speak to you, right now.'”
“And my response to that, knowing what an amazing person he was, is that he would say ‘sorry’ and he didn’t want to cause us any pain. And in that moment imagining him saying ‘sorry’ – took away all my anger.”
Then she adds, “The problem is that replaces the anger with sadness.”
Evie hates when other pupils joke about suicide
There is a deep chasm in the room. They will never know why. There are no answers. No clues and no way to change that. The profound complexity of emotions is something anyone would struggle with, yet both children Evie have found ways of coping.
“You have the first couple of years of feeling – ‘this is going to be my life now this is how I’m going to feel…’ says Evie. Her emotions break through, she pauses to compose herself then determinedly finishes her point. “…and I think being able to move past that and understand that you are not defined by that loss – and you are more than the person who took themselves away from you – and you are stronger.”
The next day as the assembly loomed Evie emitted quiet confidence. Mum Caroline came to watch and said she felt protective but at the same time “unbelievably proud”.
Evie gives her presentation at assembly
What then happened was an extraordinary 20 minutes. Around 80 children watched the presentation, which included a thought-provoking animated film that Evie helped to create. She told the room how she lost her father to suicide in 2018 when she was nine years old and warned, “When you hear someone joking about something that has completely turned your world around it can be so hurtful.”
She also had sage advice on where teenagers can get help themselves, listing school provision and organisations outside of school such as Childline and the Samaritans.
Research recently published by the Mental Health Foundation found a third of young people accessed self-harm content online and the theme this year’s Mental Health Awareness week was community. Evie’s presentation couldn’t have been more appropriate.
She told her peers: “Unfortunately, in my experience the people who don’t talk about it, the people who keep their emotions down and don’t want to speak about those feelings are the people who we lose thorough suicide.”
Headmaster of Brighton Hill Community School, Chris Edwards
Caroline was right to be proud and so too was headmaster of Brighton Hill Community School, Chris Edwards. He said afterwards: “I bang on about this quite a lot – the younger generation – and the press that they get does not match the depiction that I see day in day out.
“They are phenomenal – and the assembly we’ve seen today which Evie ran was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in my career. Not just because she was able to tackle a subject that’s very difficult to her, but to do it to her peers is doubly difficult. And I was also proud of the way the children responded.”
It is rare this subject is talked about, and it must be done sensitively. Evie gave a masterclass in how to do it.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
UK
Liverpool fan says his baby was flung 15ft in his pram and his partner run over during trophy parade
A father has told Sky News how his partner was driven over, and his baby son was flung 15ft in his pram, after they were hit by a vehicle during the Liverpool parade collision.
Daniel Everson, 36, had been with Sheree Aldridge and their five-month-old baby, Teddy, at Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday.
“The best day of my life turned into worst”, said Daniel, a lifelong fan of ‘The Reds’.
Daniel described the moment the car came towards him and his family.
“I tried to hold on to the front of the car and try and stop it, push it, do whatever I could [to stop it] from hitting my partner and my baby.
Daniel Everson was in the crowd for the Liverpool trophy parade when the incident took place
“Me and my partner were flat on the roof, on the bonnet… we were just both trying to hold on for dear life with Ted next to us.
“And my partner went under the wheels of the car, of the front of the car, and it rolled over her leg, and I just bounced off to the side, but my boy and his pram got bounced totally in the opposite direction – about 15ft down the road.
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“As soon as that happened, I just started screaming for my partner, and I found her and I asked where Teddy was, and she didn’t know… and I found him and he was okay, thank God.
“He was in the road, in his pram, on his back, and I grabbed him. I chucked the pushchair to the side and I ran up to some paramedics with him.”
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The suspect is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.
Daniel, from Telford, said he felt like he was in “hell” as he rushed back to find Sheree.
“I had to carry her up the road with four police officers holding her while she was screaming and crying. At that point, I didn’t know what was wrong with her, but I could see the injuries to her leg,” he explained.
Sheree, 36, is recovering at Aintree University Hospital after suffering muscle tissue damage. Daniel has been allowed to return home with Teddy after he was assessed at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
“I feel a lot of emotions right now. Upset, angry, traumatised. A lot of unanswered questions that need to be answered.
“To me, it just wasn’t handled properly – the situation with the car getting that far into the crowd, in my opinion, he should not have got anywhere near us.”
Merseyside Police have now been given more time to question a 53-year-old arrested after a car struck a crowd at Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday.
The suspect, who police have described as a white British man from the local area, is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving, and drug driving.
Police have said the extra time they have been given to question the suspect runs into Thursday.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate have been charged with rape and other offences in the UK.
Andrew Tate, 38, faces 10 charges, including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain, relating to three women.
His brother Tristan Tate, 36, faces 11 charges relating to one woman – including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.
The charges were authorised in January 2024, but full details have only been released now.
Bedfordshire Police issued an international arrest warrant for the brothers over allegations, which they “unequivocally deny”, said to have occurred between 2012 and 2015.
The Tate brothers are facing separate allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering in Romania.
They are also accused of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women in a different case, which has been sent back to prosecutors.
They are due to be extradited to the UK following the conclusion of proceedings in Romania.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan outside a Bucharest court in January. File pic: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via Reuters
A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have authorised charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate for offences including rape, human trafficking, controlling prostitution and actual bodily harm against three women.
“These charging decisions followed receipt of a file of evidence from Bedfordshire Police.
“A European Arrest Warrant was issued in England in 2024, and as a result the Romanian courts ordered the extradition to the UK of Andrew and Tristan Tate.”
The spokesperson added: “However, the domestic criminal matters in Romania must be settled first.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendants have the right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
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Representatives for Andrew Tate have been contacted by Sky News for comment.
Lawyer Matt Jury, of McCue Jury & Partners, representing several alleged British victims of Andrew Tate, said: “We welcome the clarity from the Crown Prosecution Service that our authorities are working to ensure the Tates face justice here in the UK – they cannot be allowed to escape extradition.
“At the same time, we ask once more that CPS admit its mistake in failing to prosecute Tate when he lived in the UK and finally charge him for the rape and assault of the other three women, our clients, who originally filed criminal complaints against him as long ago as 2014 but were failed by the system.
“They deserve justice, too.”
The allegations were subject to a police investigation, which was closed in 2019.
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