A BUCKSHAW Village man leading the fight against injustices in been battling against a proposed increase in ground rent have managed to overthrow demands from freeholders.

News of a “leasehold scandal”, which means homebuyers are trapped in contracts with rising costs, came to light last year. The Government announced plans to outlaw leasehold agreements for new-build properties in England two months ago.

But for those who already have a property, such as Craig Dixon from Elan Place, those plans do not help, and they say they are in limbo.

He was sent a letter from the company which manages the lease, Mainstay, informing him of an increase in his ground rent charges from £250 to £398.

Mr Dixon said: “We bought our house in 2015, and have been in for three years.” He said he was informed after buying the property that there was an option to buy the freehold after three years. “We had put a lot of money into getting the house and we were quite happy to save up and do that. But 18 months after we moved in we got a letter saying that it had been sold.

“There’s one bit of my lease which says they can put the ground rent up after 25 years and there’s another bit which says they can put it up after 15 years. I’ve been in my house since 2015 when it was built but the leases started in 2003 - the houses weren’t even built then. I don’t know how they can do that.

“I had quite a long conversation with them and they came back and said there’s an error on your lease document. The ground rent will only increase in 2028.

“It is good that the Government are taking action to stop leasehold agreements but that does not help people now and they should be looking at the situation for people retrospectively too.”

A spokesman for Mainstay said: “We have recently been in communication with home owners at The Avenue, Buckshaw as regards the rent review mechanism within their lease.

“It is correct that Mainstay did issue rent review notices for 15 houses where the rent review was not due until 1st January 2028, we have communicated this to those owners affected and apologised accordingly for our administrative error.

“The rent review for the remaining houses within the development was due on 1st January 2018. We have notified those owners affected and have subsequently been in communication with a number of owners regards this.

“It is worth noting that every lease is unique and can carry different dates and stipulations, we are therefore more than happy for owners to contact us should they have

any questions relating to their individual circumstance.”