Flat buyers across England and Wales have been shocked at the ‘feudal’ nature of the ground rent system. Even Michael Gove says it must change. But landowners are fighting back
When Lauren Stanley, an insurance broker from Kent, bought her two-bedroom new-build flat in Tonbridge for £180,000 in 2013, she had no idea that it came with a problematic ground rent arrangement. It wasn’t until she attempted to sell the property, and saw three buyers pull out, that she learned what was putting them off.
“Once my third buyer pulled out, I was advised that I have a rising ground rent clause, which sees the fee increase every five years in line with inflation,” she says. The first increase took it from £250 to £320, and if it carried on increasing by the same percentage, by the end of the 115-year lease term it would have been an extortionate amount. She put the eventual figure at more than £100,000 a year.
