£1 Fixed Rentcharge interest over Property - Click on arrow to right hand side to expand for detail and action email template
Action Update Wednesday 10th April 2024: Strongly recommend to send the below email template to your original conveyancer (if they are still operating).
Why is this important?
It is ultimately your conveyancer's responsibility to have ensured that payment of your £1 Fixed Rentcharge was made upon the date of completion of the transfer of the property to your ownership. In failing to do so they have failed upon their legal obligations to you as the purchaser and failed to bring to your attention the existence of this Fixed Rentcharge interest that Newhall hold over your property and the serious implications this interest Newhall have over your property has.
What does the hold over your property mean?
It means it gives the power to Newhall to place a lease or take posession of your property. A lease that they are under no obligation to return to you as a freehold.
It should be noted that a few years back the key representative of Newhall Projects was absolute and adamant that Newhall Projects would never start to charge the £1 Fixed Rentcharge to residents. It is alledged by SHW that Tees Law, whom also take the fee for the required Deed of Variation, allegedly advised Newhall to commence charging the £1 Fixed Rentcharge to residents despite:
Phase 1 residents not appearing to have signed into £1 Fixed Rentcharge in their contracts
Leaseholders whom have their own Ground Rent Section 146 forfeiture route and as such does not appear to be correct that Leaseholders should be being charged either
appears The Edge, Fusion, Stonebond/Sage and Base residents are being treated differently aswell as newer buyers of Phase 1 against the ethos of Newhall Residents Association Limited stating and claiming a singular approach of contractual conditions, rules and covenants across the Estate being it's sole purpose and reason of existence
When you come to remortgage and/or sell your property it will cost you £1-1.5k to undertake a Deed of Variation as the Mortgage Council of Lenders best practice will not allow mortgage companies to lend money to you as a remortgaging customer nor to a buyer of your property without certain changes to either remove the lease/posession capability preference, negotiate to amend to a notice period to be provided to either just in favour of the mortgage company and in some cases to include giving you notice too.
Newhall and Tees Law are under no obligation to agree to this Deed of Variation and can at any point decline to agree to and undertake this.
If Newhall and/or Newhall Residents Association Limited company at any point falls under different Directorship and/or gets sold, as is the case with many companies in the Manchester, Bristol, etc areas where these companies like NRAL are exploiting the £1 Fixed Rentcharge implications for property owners to the serious impacts and repurcussion this £1 Fixed Rentcharge interest over the Freehold property entails.
It is to be noted that despite residents raising 14 Days Notice requests for Newhall, Tees Law and SHW to confirm that "everything is clear" in respect to the £1 Fixed Rentcharge payments, Newhall, Tees Law and SHW have avoided responding. The handful of responses have been deliberately vague relating incorrectly to service charge account status and continue to state that at some point soon a guidance will be sent out about the Fixed Rentcharge.
It is also to be noted that SHW Zack during SHW recorded residents meetings has made different false and misrepresentative claims as to what the motives behind starting to charge and what this Fixed Rentcharge is for i) being a slush fund for Newhall Residents Association Limited, ii) Newhall Projects company collecting this charge.
Action For You To Do:
Freeholders: If you're Freehold in Phase 1, The Edge, Fusion, Stonebond/Sage, Base strongly recommend that you send the below email template to your original conveyancer to open up and undertaken a proper investigation
Leaseholders: If you're Leasehold and pay Ground Rent in Phase 1, The Edge, Fusion, Stonebond/Sage, Base strongly recommend that you send the below email template to your original conveyancer to open up and undertaken a proper investigation
For those who have a deflection response asking what you want the conveyancer to do the below email template will assist with the response to send