As we link across the country with other home owners we discover that leaseholders on private estates not only have to pay the same land maintenance charges, but are faced with excessive ground rents and unaffordable prices if they wish to buy their freehold. This article gives some details.
So it is not only freeholders who are being ripped off in this scandalous land grab!
The test case against Greenbelt Group… one year on.
It has been nearly a year now since Mike Marriott, a homeowner on the West Myerton Estate near Menstrie in Scotland took Greenbelt Group to the Lands Tribunal of Scotland. The Tribunal found that the burdens in Mr Marriott’s title deeds were unenforceable as the developer had omitted key pieces of information from the title deeds at the time of purchase. This is known as the ‘four corners’ rule and it means that ALL of the information about the are of land to be maintained and the maintenance arrangements MUST be included in the ‘four corners’ of the title deeds – in other words, in a single document with four corners on it.
The maintenance burdens in Mr Marriott’s deeds were deemed to be void due to the uncertainty of their content.
As a result of the case, the Keeper for the Register of Scotland automatically decided that the maintenance burdens on every other home on the West Myerton Estate were faulty and had, by law, to be removed. Greenbelt Group is continuing to maintain its own land as it is mandated to do – just like any other landowner.
This is a scenario that will no doubt apply to many estates across the UK, and we have had correspondence from many people over the past 12 months who realise that exactly the same set up applies in their case.
The test case, which was funded by homeowners from across the UK, has been in important first toe in the legal water – and as anyone who is a member of HorNet forums will know – the case (whilst it didn’t deliver everything hoped for) has been a game changer.
Thanks to HorNet and to the test case, homeowners are no longer sitting alone whilst land owning land maintenance companies threaten to sue them – instead, people are actively speaking to their solicitors – are showing them the test case – and are banding together to discuss how other similar test cases could be mounted in the future.
The West Myerton case (which has been endorsed by Scottish Minsters, the Scottish Government and various Consumer Bodies) was fought on a no-win-no-fee basis. The no-win-no-fee model has made justice for the ordinary person affordable, and has really loaded the dice in favour of ordinary people seeking redress.
It feels that this year, with the rise of HorNet, the tables really have been turned.
More information on the test case if available on the West Myerton Residents website.