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07 March 2019 / Rawdon Crozier
Issue: 7831 / Categories: Features , Property
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Notes on a scandal: freeholders & medieval robber barons

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In the first of a two-part series, Rawdon Crozier investigates ‘the Housing Act trap’…& plots a potential escape
  • Escalating ground rent clauses.
  • Ground 8 is not the only trap.
  • Might derogation from grant provide an escape?

Comparisons were being made between freeholders and medieval robber barons (see, eg Hansard 18/7/2000 col 246) long before ‘The leasehold mis-selling scandal’, which, by some estimates, left over 100,000 homeowners stuck with leasehold properties they cannot sell, primarily as a result of escalating ground rent provisions (although there are widespread complaints about hidden charges and other onerous lease terms).

Leaseholders feeling themselves thus afflicted, might well liken one particular side effect of escalating ground rent provisions—‘The Housing Act trap’—to being robbed by the baron and then flung into the dungeon sewer for good measure. However, as those familiar with films set in medieval castles know, the castle sewer can sometimes offer a means of escape. This speculative two-part article considers whether, through the

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