Team Blitz India
London: Escalating ground rents and service fees have 13 per cent of London leaseholders considering selling up, fresh data from Barclays has revealed.
That’s three time the national average of four per cent of leaseholders considering selling their home. The report found that just 35 per cent of London leaseholders feel their ground rent and service charge fees are affordable, suggesting that 65 per cent are struggling to keep up with their costs.
Only 13 per cent of leaseholders in London feel that they are getting good value for money with their ground rent and service charges.
Leaseholders reported feeling blindsided by these costs, which increase the longer the contract goes on. In London, 34 per cent of leaseholders said that they were not aware when they purchased their home of the rate at which their ground rent and service fees would increase.
Barclays also found also found that 29 per cent of leaseholders reported that they were concerned that they would not be able to sell their property due to the high ground rents and fees associated with it.
Most new build homes in London are leasehold. This means that the owner must pay an annual ground rent to the freeholder for the land their property is built on. Ground rent increases at a fixed rate, and can double every 10 years. Leaseholders must also eventually pay to increase their lease.
