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Guest Blog by Marie Lovell, Member of Learning Disability England
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I was talking to my friend Chris who is hoping to make a documentary about leaseholds.
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He told me about many examples of people who have bought a flat or house, sometimes using ‘help to buy’ or ‘shared ownership’.
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They then found they were stuck with expensive service charges or ground rent, or landlords who don’t do repairs.
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Some people needed to move house for work or to be near family and they can’t sell their house.
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This is because when you buy a property that is leasehold you don’t own the land on which it is built – just the right to live there for however long the lease is.
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Nearly all flats in England are leasehold and more and more new houses too.
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I was really shocked as my son Bill has always planned to use some money his Grandad left him to do shared ownership of a flat.
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We thought this would give him a secure home but now I’m not so sure.
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Chris is working on the documentary with the National Leasehold Campaign.
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If you have a leasehold property – or if you are thinking about housing options and considering it, and you might want to appear in the documentary please contact me through Learning Disability England.
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