#gleesonhomes

[parkerplacegleesonhomes]

More quality from Gleeson Homes, the paint they put on the plaster has all come away from it in a big patch after I finally got round to doing some decorating.

[parkerplacegleesonhomes]

Parker Place #fleecehold

So here it is, in a nutshell:

Dec 16 - Reserved a plot with Gleeson Homes on Parker Place.  I was told that the plot was freehold and that there was an £88 a year ‘maintenance charge’ for the estate, payable to Gleesons by the sales assistant (who conveniently no longer works for the company).  They did NOT inform me of any other charges, restrictive covenants or permission fees at this stage, despite having a checklist of what to inform buyers. The checklist said have buyers been informed of any estate fees?  They circled yes, so I should have been told the truth.  I was not.

Jul 17 - My conveyancing solicitor received the TP1 and sends me a pre-contract report.  By this point, I had spent several thousand pounds in NON-REFUNDABLE extras, fees and surveys.  Gleesons did not tell me the truth whilst cheerily taking this money from me.  In the report was the first ever mention of Greenbelt Group and the restrictive covenants.  I asked questions about this to the sales office, they refused to answer, saying it’s in the hands of solicitors.  Questions were then asked to the solicitors, they replied they need to be asked to the sales office! They also threatened to cancel the sale if any delays were made in completing the sale.  I emailed Gleesons customer services, no response.  To this day, they have refused to answer my questions.  The latest one was Company Secretary, Stefan Allanson.  Despite offering to answer any questions I had, he then subsequently refused and said to put them to customer services.  I don’t think such a department exists.  Anyways, so I was faced with a choice, cancel the sale or proceed.  If I had cancelled, I would have lost thousands of pounds.  I had also moved jobs up here at the beginning of July and was moving my family over 100 miles to come back home.  We had given notice on our old house and our boy was due to start at the local primary.  Rock and a hard place, eh?  So we proceeded to avoid chaos in our life and with the hope that I could figure this mess out and get it solved.  How wrong I’ve been.

So, where I am now.  After doing more research and speaking to others on Facebook in this same mess, I now know this maintenance fee is actually an estate rent charge in law.  See below articles for this draconian law and how it is enforced.  I also know that despite being freehold, I cannot change the plot or property without permission from Gleesons.  I cannot change the cheap stone driveway without permission from Gleesons.  I cannot add an extension or conservatory without permission from Gleesons.  I cannot convert the garage in to living accommodation ever.  I cannot rent this property out without permission from Gleesons.  And best of all, anything that requires permission from Gleesons, you HAVE TO PAY FOR PERMISSION!!  But, they do not say how much, all it says is ‘reasonable fee’.  What is reasonable?  They can make this up.  In total, there are 34 restrictive covenants about the plot.

But the greatest restriction of all, I CANNOT SELL THIS PROPERTY WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF GREENBELT GROUP! And, guess what, I have to pay for this permission too! So my argument, I did not receive the correct information at the time of reservation that allowed me to make an informed choice about whether to proceed with the reservation or not.  They had 8 months, and I spoke to them a lot in that time, to tell me this.  Instead, they kept quiet, took my money and then slipped it in the small print.  Some neighbours I have spoken too, who used the developers ‘preferred solicitors’ did not get informed of any of this.  This is a scandal repeated across the country by different developers. We are not alone, join the Home Owners Rights Network:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/homeownersrights/

[parkerplacegleesonhomes]

Greenbelt Group is rated "Bad" with 0.6 / 10 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with Greenbelt Group's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 196 customers have already said.

Greenbelt Group, the company Gleeson Homes are placing public open space in to private ownership.  Read the reviews, says a lot about what will happen on Parker Place.

[parkerplacegleesonhomes]

So yesterday I was invited to and attended Parliament to talk to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee.  They were running a consultation on leasehold reform and I explained to them that as well as leasehold properties, there needs to be regulation of fleecehold properties like mine.  The MP’s I spoke to were shocked that freehold houses were being sold in this manner, as the restrictions and fees charged sound a lot like leasehold properties.

[parkerplacegleesonhomes]

The MP for the area, Graham Jones, visited my house and the estate.  He wrote to Gleesons and got a response to his questions (more than Gleesons have seen fit to provide me with so far).  So here is my response to what he has to say:

The gravel drive ways are there because it is the cheapest finish available to them.  He says it is better for the environment and allows water to drain.  Block paving allows water to drain, but they haven’t paid for that because that eats in to the profit margin.  Like other fittings in the house, the cheapest option is what they have gone for.

Question 1: Why transfer public open space to a private, for profit, company?  Because they will have received a fee for the land that they could not otherwise make any money from. 

Question 2: As per the article below about estate rent charges, you cannot challenge them.  Read trustpilot reviews to see what other Greenbelt victims say: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.greenbelt.co.uk

Question 3: The council, in a response to me, stated in writing there was no public open space on this development.  Therefore, someone is lying about this land.

Question 4: And will rise and rise. They can also add spurious charges, as detailed in the Greenbelt bill in one of the posts below.

Question 5: Absolutely we do not.  We pay a private company to maintain their own land.  They are in it to make profit, not provide residents with value for money. 

Question 6: See the trustpilot reviews, people who are in dispute with them get no resolution.  There is no law to protect freeholders and no regulation of these companies.

Question 7: No cap means they can charge whatever they want and add as much management charge as they like.  This provides no service to residents.  A complaints procedure means nothing, as per question 6, there is no regulation so they are free to do as you like.  You can complain till you are blue in the face, it means nothing. 

Question 8: I wish I knew the question he does not understand.  I don’t understand a lot, like why are you not telling customers at the point of reservation and during the time taking thousands off them for extras that these charges and restrictive covenants are there.

Question 9: A liaison officer who will liaise with adjacent properties? I’m assuming he means the terraced houses on the streets next to the estate.  Interesting what they need to liaise with them for considering they have not been made liable for this land like we have.

Again, he refers to the local authority taking ownership of the open space, but the council told me in writing that there WAS NO OPEN SPACE.  I will post a copy of this letter.

[parkerplacegleesonhomes]

A rentcharge is a historic property device, which affects freehold land. The recent case of Roberts v Lawton highlights the problems that they can cause for owners of residential property.

So here is a description of what draconian punishments can be levied if you do not the estate rent charge.  Most importantly:

Right of entry. This permits the rent owner to enter into possession of the land and take the income from it until the sum due is paid.

Lease to a trustee. The rentcharge owner is entitled to grant a long lease of the burdened property to trustees for the purpose of raising income to recover arrears, plus enforcement costs and the cost of granting the lease.

So as the judge stated in this case, “Once the lease is in existence, therefore, it amounts to a stranglehold on the property owner whose freehold is worthless in the presence of the lease.”  So your home, sold as freehold, effectively loses that status and you will not be able to sell the property as a result.  Yet this is never mentioned to you during the buying or conveyancing process as a potential issue.  Miss-selling on a huge scale and it is rife across the new-build industry. 

[parkerplacegleesonhomes]

Estate charges on freehold properties In a private estate, it is common that the homeowners must pay a contribution for the upkeep of the communal areas on the estate. This can include private roads, landscaped gardens and street lighting and is often referred to as an “estate charge” or “service charge”. Whilst leasehold owners have …

Very interesting read on the lack of legal options for residents subject to an estate rent charge.

[parkerplacegleesonhomes]

Here is an example of a Greenbelt Group bill.  Note the monthly ‘supervisor inspection’ at £252.  Necessary?  I would say not.  But, here’s the fun part, who knows if a supervisor even turns up?  What do they do?  What qualifications do they have to make these inspections?  Bear in mind the large amount of estates Greenbelt now manage, how many supervisors do they have to make all these inspections?  But the best bit, they don’t have to prove anything to you as a freeholder subject to these #fleecehold bills.  You can’t challenge them on this.  Note how the monthly ‘routine maintenance’ charge goes up in April.  Almost £300 a month extra for the same ‘maintenance’.  These bills WILL GO UP every year.  And then a nice little earner for Greenbelt at the end in the form of a ‘managerial overview’.  Again, what does this entail?  What is to say this even occurs?  All charged to residents of #fleecehold estates who pay to maintain land they do not own.