HorNet – Stop the Rot! Adopt the Lot!

On Thursday 28th Sept 2017, Radio 4 You and Yours aired this excellent item on fleecehold with case studies from the National Leasehold Campaign group

Although the estate management charges are not mentioned this time, it is becoming increasingly clear that our groups might have started off in different places focusing on one aspect, but we are ending up at the same place. The private estate has been sneaked under the radar, and has become a new asset class. How many people believe that all the restrictions are to protect residents from each other? Why would you need this degree of control? Surely it is more about protecting and preserving the asset – the private estate?

BBC radio 4’s “You and Yours” have done another item on estate management fees triggered by a listeners issue over an estate which was going to be adopted, but in the end wasn’t, leaving only a minority of the home owners footing the bill as their homes were built later. They were told the council had refused to adopt, although the reasons for this have not been revealed. In this fairly brief item HorNets’ views were asked about this and the Local Government Association statement (they declined to be interviewed). You can listen to the clip below – apologies for a minor break in the recording.

There wasn’t enough time to paint the full picture, especially in view of the need to explain the context for the wider public. So if you would like to comment with your own experiences of your council’s role, especially over the negotiating and subsequent monitoring of landscaping in 106 agreements, please do. To support our campaign further you could also send a copy to “You and Yours” at youandyours@bbc.co.uk

Thank you HorNets