Aviva and Persimmon agree to end unfair leasehold practices

Aviva and Persimmon have agreed to end unfair leasehold practices, following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

It means that Aviva has committed to remove certain terms from its leasehold contracts that cause ground rents to double, and Persimmon will now offer leasehold house owners the opportunity to buy the freehold of their home at a discounted price.

The CMA launched enforcement action against four housing developers in September 2020. In connection with this action, the CMA has also been investigating several investment firms that bought several freeholds from two of these developers and continued to use these same ground rent terms.

The investigation has led to Aviva and Persimmon agreeing to several commitments, known formally as ‘undertakings’.

Aviva will remove from leasehold contracts certain clauses that were doubling the ground rents payable by leaseholders. It will also remove terms that were originally doubling clauses and have been converted into RPI-based ground rent terms.

Doubling clauses that cause ground rents to double every 10 to 15 years mean people can often struggle to sell or mortgage their homes. They can also affect leaseholders’ property rights.

Where Aviva is the current freeholder, those leaseholders’ ground rents will revert to the original amount – i.e. when the property was first sold – and this will not increase over time.

Aviva has also agreed to repay homeowners who were affected by these doubling ground rent clauses. This means that, where ground rents had increased, people will be refunded the excess money they had paid over this time.

Persimmon will offer leasehold house owners the option to buy the freehold of their property at a discount, better reflecting what they expected when they originally bought their house. It will also make repayments to certain homeowners who have already purchased their freeholds.

This addresses concerns raised by consumers with the CMA, and local Trading Standards, that they were led to believe they could buy their freehold at a certain price, only to find out later that this price had increased by thousands of pounds with no warning.

It also means those individuals who have already bought their freehold will receive a refund, meaning they don’t miss out.

Persimmon has also agreed to extend the timeframe that prospective buyers are given to exchange contracts after reserving a property, and to provide people with more upfront information about the annual costs of buying a home.

This meets concerns that the ‘reservation period’ – i.e. the period of time during which a potential buyer must take a number of steps to progress the purchase – is too short and can pressure the buyer into making a decision, and that more information is needed up-front for consumers to make purchasing decisions.

Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA, said: “This is a real win for thousands of leaseholders – for too long people have found themselves trapped in homes they can struggle to sell or been faced with unexpectedly high prices to buy their freehold. Now, they can breathe a sigh of relief knowing things are set to change for the better.

“It’s good that Aviva and Persimmon have responded positively to this investigation, enabling these issues to be fixed for leaseholders. But our work isn’t done. We now expect other housing developers and investors to follow the lead of Aviva and Persimmon. If not, they can expect to face legal action.”

The CMA has also written to the investment groups Brigante Properties, and Abacus Land and Adriatic Land, setting out its concerns and requiring them to remove doubling ground rent terms from their contracts.

They now have the opportunity to respond to the CMA’s detailed concerns and avoid court action by signing undertakings to remove such terms.

The CMA points out that these undertakings have been provided voluntarily and without any admission of wrongdoing or liability. It should not be assumed that the firms had breached the law.

Please contact us if you would like advice about the legal aspects of buying or selling a home.