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Developers set ground rents low but insert clauses to let them raise the annual sums drastically. Campaigners say ground rents could hit £10,000 on a three-bed leasehold property by 2060.

2. Leasehold property owners must ask the freeholder for permission to carry out big alterations, often for a hefty fee.

3. Because of these factors, leasehold owners can find it difficult or impossible to sell.

Another problem arises if the yearly ground rent exceeds £250 – or £1,000 in Greater London – and the tenant occupies the property as their home, rather than renting it out as an investor.

Then the lease becomes an assured tenancy, which makes the property even more undesirable.

For instance if you fail to pay ground rent under an assured

QI WANT to buy my grandson a coat for his birthday but I’m not really sure if he will like what I choose. If he doesn’t like it will I be able to return it? Abigail Green THE safest thing to do is to buy it online. This means you will be able to return it and get a refund if he doesn’t like it, as long as you do so within 14 days of delivery. If you buy in store you may only be entitled to an exchange. But check the returns policy. I BOUGHT an expensive watch six years ago with a lifetime guarantee. I’ve just put it in for repair and the retailer says the warranty is void as I have not put the watch in for a yearly service. Can they say this? Adam Harrisson IT depends on what the guarantee terms and conditions say. It is common for guarantee terms for goods

AQAlike watches to stipulate that the goods must be serviced regularly. If not, there will be nothing you can do, unless you can show that this important fact was not communicated to you adequately at the point of purchase. WE put an offer on a house that was accepted by the seller. Shortly before we were

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