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Evicted shared owner paying rent on empty flat as EWS crisis prevents resale

A shared owner who had his flat repossessed is still being charged for rent as fire safety issues mean the building society that took possession cannot find a buyer.

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Davoll Court in Bermondsey (picture: Google Street View)
Davoll Court in Bermondsey (picture: Google Street View)
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A shared owner who had his flat repossessed is still being charged for rent as fire safety issues mean the building society that took possession cannot find a buyer #UKhousing

Inside Housing has spoken to a leaseholder paying vast sums for a Hyde Group property that he no longer lives in or owns a stake in as a result on the ongoing crisis around External Wall System 1 (EWS1) forms.

Matthew Green (not his real name) owned a 25% stake in a shared ownership flat in Hyde’s Davoll Court building in Bermondsey, south London but after running up arrears his mortgagee Leeds Building Society (LBS) repossessed the property in March 2020.

Despite taking possession with a view to reselling, LBS has been unable to force through a sale due to the lack of an EWS1 form for the block, meaning mortgage lenders cannot verify whether its cladding is safe.

A buyer was found for the property later in 2020 but the sale fell through, with the prospective owner failing to get a mortgage on the property.


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The building society has told Mr Green that it will add the rent and service charge payments for the flat to his mortgage costs until a buyer is found.

It also told him that the legal costs associated with the failed sale will be added to his mortgage. The flat has been empty for almost a year.

LBS said it was forced to step in after Hyde intended to start recovery action on arrears but claimed that the housing association declined the opportunity to buy back the property, even at a discounted price.

Mr Green has asked for the property back so that he can rent it out to keep costs down, but he is yet to receive a response.

Susan Stockwell, chief customer officer at Hyde, said: “We are very sorry that Mr Green has had his home repossessed. However, this is not Hyde’s action, but action taken by the lender.

“Mr Green was living in a shared ownership property and was not paying his mortgage or his rent. We worked very hard with Mr Green so that he could avoid having his home repossessed. However, we cannot influence the actions that the lender takes.

“Hyde is not the freeholder on this property, therefore the EWS1 is not our responsibility.”

A spokesperson for LBS said: “The customer had run up significant rent arrears with the housing association, which intended to start recovery action.

“This triggered our intervention to protect the customer, the society and our members. If the housing association had forfeited the customer’s lease, he instantly would have become liable to repay the total outstanding mortgage.

“We continued to work with the customer while he tried to sell the property and we later tried to find a way he could stay in the property but he declined to participate in the necessary budgeting process with us. Having failed to secure a buyer, he voluntarily vacated the property.

“We offered the property to the housing association, which owns the majority share, but it declined to buy back the customer’s share, even at a discounted price.

Since then we have taken all possible steps to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations to limit future losses to the customer and the society, working with independent asset managers.

“Having considered all the factors, including the lack of EWS1, an early sale to a cash buyer at a discounted price would be the best option because it would (1) limit further growth in costs and (2) a timely sale at the current asking price would preserve a surplus to the customer.”

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End Our Cladding Scandal: campaign aims

End Our Cladding Scandal: campaign aims
  • Government provides a fund to cover the cost of cladding removal and remedial works on private blocks
  • A firm timescale is set out of no more than two years for the work to be carried out
  • Residents are reimbursed for the interim fire safety costs incurred, and funding is to be provided for necessary internal fire safety measures identified by a competent fire risk assessor
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