PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP
THURSDAY 25 JULY 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alistair Strathern, Labour MP for Hitchin, is today standing with local Hitchin residents who, thanks to extortionate ground rent terms, are unable to sell their flats.
Leaseholders on Watersmeet estate, off Grove Road, Hitchin, pay a ground rent of £300 per year to the freeholder. A clause in the contract allows the figure to double, with it expected to rise to £600 per year by 2034. With many banks refusing to lend to homeowners subject to such clauses, this has left many of the homeowners on this estate trapped and unable to sell.
In one of his first actions as the MP for the new Hitchin constituency, Mr Strathern met with a group of the concerned residents last week at their estate. He has since written to the Freeholder, Tulsesense, urging changes to the contract, and for a meeting to ensure new terms can be established.
On top of the ground rent charges, residents have to pay over £2000 a year in management fees that pay for the maintenance of the estate.
Alistair Strathern has made highlighting the unfairness of leasehold a priority since entering Parliament last year, including meeting and working with leasehold residents across his constituency.
Alistair Strathern, Labour MP for the Hitchin constituency, said:
“I was appalled to hear the stories of the residents of Watersmeet, and the impact the current broken leasehold system and unfair ground rent terms is having on local families.
“It is completely unfair that they cannot sell their flats. Tulsesense must lower and cap their ground rent to ensure homeowners are not trapped.
“But, the stories of Watersmeet sadly are not isolated. I will be working with the new Labour government to reform leasehold and freehold, and end the broken system we have inherited.”
Editors' Notes:
You can see an image of Mr Strathern with residents attached.
In a leasehold system, residents buy the house or flat, but not the land with which the house sits on. In many cases, residents in this system pay peppercorn rent.
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