At Elgin House in North Herts, the annual ground rent for five leaseholders, including Derek Taylor, has increased from £25 to £2,350, a nine thousand percent increase.
The increase is retroactive to 2018, so he owes £17,169 in total and risks going to court if he doesn’t make the payment.
The case has rekindled calls for the next government to abolish England’s centuries-old leasehold system, a move criticized by activists as “feudal” and “exploitative.”
Leaseholders must pay ground rent in order to live on land they do not own and is not subject to a service.
