The case has renewed calls for the next government to abolish England’s centuries-old leasehold system, which campaigners say is “feudal” and “exploitative”.
A ground rent is a charge leaseholders have to pay so they can have a home on land they do not own and does not require a service in return.
Image: Derek Taylor owns his home but under the leasehold system, is required to pay rent to the owner of the land it is built on
The Tories promised to effectively abolish these charges in their 2019 manifesto, but the long-awaited legislation aimed at doing this now hangs in the balance following Rishi Sunak’s decision to hold a snap general election.
Derek, who has lived in the property for 50 years and paid off his mortgage, told Sky News: “We were asked to send £17,000 plus pounds and about a fortnight later we got a letter saying this amount is outstanding and if it’s not paid in five days, we have no course but to take you to court.
Advertisement
“That caused a lot of upset because who can simply pay that amount of money?
“The letter upset me because it was very threatening. You wake up in the night and can’t get to sleep again because it’s on your mind.”
The letter was sent to Derek by solicitors Salter Rex on behalf of the freeholder Quadron. They did not respond to a request for comment.
‘Let down by government’
Image: The ground rent for these properties is now over £2,000 a year
It said £17,169 is outstanding on his account and if he does not pay “we will have no alternative but to commence legal proceedings”. It added that a £120 administration fee will be charged on top of that if no money is paid within five days.
The ground rent increase is allowed under the terms of Derek’s lease, drawn up in the 1960s, which said the fee could be reviewed in March 2018 and every 50 years after in line with the annual value of the land.
Derek and his neighbours, who were not aware of the clause, took the case to arbitration but it was ruled that the rise was allowed and the lease agreement “includes no requirement for the level of rent to be “reasonable”.
Derek, a former print worker, said: “It’s simply because they can. Legally that may be so but whatever way you look at it we can’t see that this is fair.
“We feel let down (by the government). This has been going on so long, it should have been sorted out a long time ago and when this bill does eventually get passed we don’t know if it will apply to our situation at all.”
Derek is due to meet his local MP Bim Afolami, who is also the economic minister, next week to discuss the issue.
In a newsletter to constituents seen by Sky News, Mr Afolami said he was aware of the situation and the government is “committed to removing these terrible practices”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:35
Labour’s Barry Gardiner says leaseholders face ‘exorbitant’ ground rents for ‘no service’
‘Leaseholders in limbo’
At the last election in 2019, the Tories promised to reduce ground rent to a zero “peppercorn” rate.
But the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, which was meant to be the mechanism for doing this, was only introduced to the House of Commons in November last year and is yet to be given Royal Assent.
The policy will be considered in the House of Lords later as part of the “wash-up” period, when the final bills that will become law are rushed through parliament before it is dissolved for an election.
The National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) has welcomed this news, amid fears the bill would be killed, but said the “devil is in the detail” as it is not clear if a cap on ground rents will be included in the final draft of the legislation.
This was due to be added to the bill as an amendment, but there have been reports for months that the Treasury wants to block the policy because it is worried about spooking insurers and pension funds that have amassed vast freehold portfolios.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Katie Kendrick, co-founder of the NLC told Sky News: “Leaseholders remain in a state of ‘Leasehold Limbo’ wondering if they will be helped by this bill.
“It remains to be seen how far this bill will go but rest assured that there will still be some way to go to achieve our goal of abolishing Leasehold and a move to Commonhold.
“Abolishing the medieval leasehold system must be in all manifestos and any incoming government must prioritise this.”
Where do the parties stand on leasehold reform?
The issue could be a dividing line in the general election campaign, amid a wider housing crisis which at its heart is a problem of insufficient supply and spiralling affordability.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove initially said he wanted to abolish the system, calling it “feudal”, but his bill only went as far as to ban leasehold on the sale of new houses.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:44
Gove speaking in 2023 says he wants to abolish ‘unfair’ leasehold system
Houses make up a small portion of around five million leasehold properties across England, most of which are flats.
Other provisions of the legislation include making it cheaper and easier for people to extend their leases, buy the freehold and gain the right to manage their buildings.
But whatever measures are ultimately enacted, for some leaseholders it will be too little too late.
Freeholders ‘cashing in’
Derek’s neighbour David Pickett ended up borrowing £54,000 from family members to change the terms of his lease so that moving forward, his ground rent will be £0.
The rise in ground rent risked leaving him trapped as it significantly devalued the property he poured his savings into, putting him at risk of negative equity and reducing his chances of selling it.
Image: David Pickett had to pay £54,000 to renegotiate his lease and remove the ground rent clause
The payment included £15,000 in backdated ground rent and a £34,000 premium – a fee David says is around seven times higher than three other neighbours in identical properties who renegotiated their lease terms in 2016. They have a fixed ground rent of £100 a year and paid a premium of between £4,000 to £5,000.
However, for communications worker David that was not an option.
“Everything is done in mathematical formulas that are hard to understand, the language they use is so cold,” he said.
The 31-year-old said delays to leasehold reforms have allowed freeholders to “cash in” on people like him and Derek.
“Part of the reason we delayed to arbitration and tried to push this as far back as possible is because we thought these reforms were coming soon and when we were getting legal advice they were talking about this bill so we always had this hope.
“Now it just feels like that flame has been extinguished.
“It feels like there is nowhere to turn for help and anyone that can help wants £200 an hour.”
A 32-year-old man has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder after a mass stabbing on a high-speed train.
Anthony Williams, 32, from Peterborough, was arrested on Saturday evening following an attack on the Doncaster to London King’s Cross LNER service.
He has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder, one count of actual bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article following a knife attack on a train in Cambridgeshire on Saturday, British Transport Police (BTP) said.
BTP said he has also been charged with another count of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article in connection with an incident on a London train in the early hours of 1 November.
Police said a victim suffered facial injuries after being attacked at 12.46am with a knife on a train at Pontoon Dock station on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in east London.
In a statement to Sky News, BTP said the suspect had left the location before police arrived and officers subsequently identified Williams as a suspect.
Williams will appear at Peterborough Magistrates on Monday morning, police said.
Armed police were deployed to Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, where the train was stopped and made the arrest within eight minutes of the first 999 call.
Image: Forensic teams gathering evidence at Huntingdon train station on Sunday, after a mass train stabbing. Pic: PA
Footage of the arrest has emerged, showing a man on the ground surrounded by officers and a barking police dog, with the sound of a Taser being deployed.
Another man, 35, from London, who was also detained, was later released after officers established he was not involved.
On Monday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told Sky News that one man, originally suffering life-threatening injuries, was now in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
She toldMornings with Ridge and Frost programme: “He went in to do his job, and he left work a hero. And there are people who are alive today because of his actions and his bravery.”
On Sunday, British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed he was a member of LNER rail staff who tried to stop the attacker.
“Having viewed the CCTV from the train, the actions of the member of rail staff were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved people’s lives,” said BTP Deputy Chief Constable (DCC) Stuart Cundy.
The train driver, named as Andrew Johnson, has also been hailed as “courageous” for his actions during the stabbings.
Following the announcement about the charges on Monday, DCC Cundy warned against anyone interfering with their ongoing investigation.
“Our investigation is also looking at other possible linked offences. Following the charges authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) I would stress the importance of not saying or publishing anything which might jeopardise or prejudice ongoing criminal proceedings, or the integrity of the investigation.”
Ms Alexander also told Sky News that BTP would be “increasing the visible patrols at stations” over the next few days.
“But generally, our trains are some of the most safest forms of public transport anywhere in the world,” she added.
Image: Armed police officers on patrol at St Pancras International station on Monday morning. Pic: PA
Tracy Easton, chief crown prosecutor for CPS Direct, said: “Our team of out-of-hours prosecutors worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We worked closely with British Transport Police to review a huge volume of evidence including CCTV. The number of charges will be kept under review as this continues to progress.
“We know the devastating impact the events on Saturday’s train has had and how the incident shocked the entire country. Our thoughts remain with all those affected.”
A pregnant British teenager has been released from jail in Georgia after being held on drug smuggling charges.
Bella May Culley, 19, of Billingham, County Durham, was arrested in May at Tbilisi Airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish into the country.
She was found guilty by a Georgian court on Monday and sentenced to five months and 25 days in prison, the total time she had already spent in custody. Her family also paid a 500,000 lari (about £138,000) as part of a plea deal aimed at reducing her sentence.
Culley and her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, both cried as the verdict was read.
Wearing a cream blazer, the teenager looked overwhelmed as she was released from custody on Monday.
Asked how she felt, she said she was “happy” and told reporters she did not expect to be freed.
Image: Bella Culley at an earlier court hearing in May. Pic: RUSTAVI 2/AP
Culley’s mother held her daughter’s hand as she was released.
Georgian prosecutors were considering a two-year sentence, but “decided to consider the time she has already served,” case prosecutor Vakhtang Tsalughelashvili told The Associated Press.
Culley’s lawyer, Malkhaz Salakhaia, said she would be given her passport and would be free to leave the country on Monday.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:02
Police footage released in May showed Culley in handcuffs as she made an initial court appearance. Pic: AP
The teenager pleaded not guilty to the charges after her arrest, saying she was tortured in Thailand and forced to carry the drugs.
Culley initially pleaded not guilty at a hearing in July to possession and trafficking illegal drugs.
She initially faced a maximum penalty of up to 15 years or life imprisonment, but was in talks with prosecutors about a potential plea bargain.
Image: Bella Culley walks with her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, following her release. Pic: Reuters
In Georgia, a nation of 3.7 million in the South Caucasus, the law allows for financial plea agreements that can be reached to reduce or eliminate a prison sentence in certain cases.
Such plea agreements are often obtained in drug-related cases.
Culley was reported missing in Thailand before her arrest at Tbilisi Airport on May 10.
The sole survivor of the Air India crash that killed 241 people on board has told Sky News he has been “broke down” by the trauma.
Air India Flight 171 crashed into a building just after take-off in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on 12 June, with Briton Viswashkumar Ramesh the only passenger who walked away from the wreckage.
Warning: This article contains details some may find distressing
Mr Ramesh, 40, was in the now-fabled seat 11a, which was located next to an emergency door that he managed to climb out of after the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed.
Image: Smoke rises from the wreckage. Pic: Reuters
His younger brother, Ajaykumar, seated in a different row on the plane, could not escape.
Months on, Mr Ramesh wanted to share the impact of that day in an attempt to try to regain control of his life – and to pressure Air India into addressing the catastrophic effect of the crash on him and his family.
But it is clearly traumatic to talk about.
“It’s very painful talking about the plane,” he says softly.
Asked by Ridge if he can speak about what happened on board, he falls silent.
Just after the crash, from his hospital bed, Mr Ramesh told cable news channel DD India “there were bodies all around me” when he stood up after the crash. A further 19 people had been killed on the ground.
In hospital, he was still pleading for help in finding his brother.
“How is your life now?” Ridge asks.
He says the crash has left him feeling “very broke down”, adding it’s much the same for the rest of his family.
He does not leave the house, he says, instead sitting alone in his bedroom, doing “nothing”.
“I just think about my brother,” he adds. “For me, he was everything.”
He says he still cannot believe Ajaykumar is dead – but that’s as much as he can bring himself to say about him.
Ridge acknowledges the contrast between Mr Ramesh’s own survival – “a miracle” – and the “nightmare” of losing his brother.
It echoes the sentiment of Mr Ramesh’s other brother, Nayankumar, who told Sky News in June: “I’ve got no words to describe it. It’s a miracle that he [Viswashkumar] survived – but what about the other miracle for my other brother?”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:44
Nayankumar speaking to Sky News in June
Mr Ramesh says he is still suffering physical discomfort too, dealing with knee, shoulder and back pain, along with burns to his left arm. His wife, he says, has to help him shower.
He and his wife live in Leicester with their four-year-old son, Divang.
“I have a four-year-old, so I know what four-year-olds are like,” Ridge says. “They’re a handful but they can bring a lot joy as well. How has he been since the tragedy happened?”
Mr Ramesh says Divang is “okay” but, with his eyes lowered, adds: “I’m not talking properly with my son.”
“Does he come to your room?” Ridge asks.
He shakes his head.
Mr Ramesh was joined by Leicester community leader Sanjiv Patel and his adviser and spokesperson Radd Seiger for support as he spoke to Ridge.
“Sophy… this is an important question that you’re asking,” says Mr Seiger.
“You’re a parent, I’m a parent, and we all know that being a parent is a privilege, isn’t it? But it takes a lot of energy… you need to be in a good place to be a good parent, to have that from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed.
“You need to be in a good place and we can all see… he’s [Mr Ramesh] been robbed of that and I think it’s just a chore for him to just get through the day, let alone be a husband, be a father.”
What’s next for the crash’s sole survivor?
Mr Seiger and Mr Patel say the list of what he needs to get his life back on track is “endless” but that it starts with “practical things” such as financial support.
Mr Ramesh and Ajaykumar used “all their savings” to set up a fishing business in India, which saw them frequently flying there together from the UK.
The business has stopped running since the crash, meaning Mr Ramesh’s extended family in both the UK and India has no income, according to Mr Patel.
For them, it amounts to an “existential threat”, he adds.
Image: Police officer standing in front of Air India aircraft wreckage after crash near Ahmedabad airport. Pic: Reuters
They say Air India has offered Mr Ramesh a flat interim payment of £21,500 – a one-off sum given to a claimant in advance of reaching the end of a personal injury claim.
A spokesperson for Tata Group, Air India’s parent company, told Sky News that Mr Ramesh had accepted the payment and that it had been transferred to him.
But Mr Seiger says the sum “doesn’t even touch the sides” when it comes to everything Mr Ramesh needs while he is unable to work or leave his home – from help with transporting his son to school, to food, to medical and psychiatric support.
They are petitioning for more than just cash payments, which they suggest reduces Mr Ramesh to “a number on a spreadsheet”.
Rather, they want Air India’s chief executive Campbell Wilson to meet with him, his family and the families of other victims in the crash, to hear about their struggles and “talk as humans”.
Mr Patel said: “Meet the people. Understand what they’re going through. Relying on bureaucratic machinery to deal with real lives [of people] who are going through real trauma – the pain of that, the financial consequences – that is the day-to-day – how lives have been destroyed, and not just the immediate family, but extended families too.”
Image: A fire officer stands next to the crashed aircraft. Pic: Reuters
A spokesperson for Air India told Sky News: “We are deeply conscious of our responsibility to provide Mr Ramesh with support through what must have been an unimaginable period. Care for him – and indeed all families affected by the tragedy – remains our absolute priority.
“Senior leaders from across Tata Group continue to visit families to express their deepest condolences. An offer has been made to Mr Ramesh’s representatives to arrange such a meeting, we will continue to reach out and we very much hope to receive a positive response.
“We are keenly aware this continues to be an incredibly difficult time for all affected and continue to offer the support, compassion, and care we can in the circumstances.”
Mr Patel also claims the UK government took away Mr Ramesh’s family’s Universal Credit after they went to India following the disaster.
According to the government’s website, those receiving Universal Credit can continue to do so if they go abroad for one month. This can be extended to two months if “a close relative dies while you’re abroad and it would not be reasonable for you to come back to the UK”, it states.
They are calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to look into the family’s circumstances and pressure Air India into doing more to help.
Mr Patel appeals to him, saying: “Take action today. If this was your family, what would you do? And if you understand that, you’ll know what to do.”
He suggests the UK government can also be doing more directly to help families in Britain who have been “devastated” by the crash.
“So while we wait for Air India to do what’s right, there’s what the UK authorities and the system can do as being right to serve the citizens in support during this tragic time,” he adds.
The Department for Work and Pensions told Sky News: “Our thoughts remain with the loved ones affected by this devastating tragedy.
“Our policy ensures people travelling abroad due to a bereavement can continue receiving Universal Credit for up to two months, rather than the standard one-month limit. Those who are abroad for longer periods would not be able to continue receiving the benefit.
“People can make a new claim once they return to the UK. This approach strikes a balance between our commitment to ensuring people get the support they need and our duty to the taxpayer.”