‘I can’t even hang my washing out to dry’

THE Welsh Government is to look at outlawing the sale of houses on which first-time buyers continue to be charged rents and fees after buying their own home.

Arrangements under the socalled leasehold sales include having to buy the land the home sits on to avoid paying extra ground rents.

And some homeowners said they were being expected to abide by restrictive covenants on properties.

Leasehold sales see the developer keep ownership of the ground a house is built on, which entitles them to charge ground rents and fees for making alterations or building extensions.

The leases are sometimes sold on by the building firm to investment companies, who can then sell them to the homeowner for thousands of pounds.

Announcing the decision to look at ending leasehold-only new homes in England, Sajid Javid, the Conservative communities and local government minister, said: “Builders and developers should be seeing what they can do to right some of the wrongs of the past.”

He described some of the deals as evidence of a “broken housing market”.

Our sister paper, the Daily Post, has learned similar plans to consult on the changes are in the pipeline in Wales. Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami said the change couldn’t come soon enough, and expected the Welsh Government to follow England’s lead.

He said: “Some of these leases have been sold multiple times. There are no advantages to the homeowner. The developers are essentially making more money out of what is a financial product that they’re selling.

“They charge ground rents and, if you want to build an extension or anything like that, you have to pay more. It’s completely ridiculous, and people are being expected to use the builder’s solicitors.”

A spokesman for the Welsh Government said yesterday: “We are aware of the issues around newbuild houses being sold as leasehold and are considering how best