BBC Panorama - The Home I Can't Afford (Shared Ownership)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 4 лют 2025
- With sky-high property prices, home ownership seems out of reach to many. The government’s shared-ownership scheme is supposed to help get people on the property ladder by letting them buy part of their home and rent the rest. But Panorama hears from shared owners who say uncapped service charges, building defects and costly lease extensions have left them stuck in homes with escalating costs and huge debts.
First broadcast late 2020
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
There should be a cap on the service charges, it’s outrageous
These companies are unscrupulous.
Hazelvine are amongst the worst of these criminal enterprises
Daylight robbery....without a mask and gun.....how is this even the law, let alone morally bankrupt.
There’s shouldn’t be a cap. People should be able to pay for the services they are using.
There's a difference between paying for what you use and absurd and unjustifiable arbitrary fees.
I wonder what connection some of these housing associations have with the servicing and maintenance companies they 'use'. @@trainman665
@@trainman665so you'd be happy if your council tax rose by 100% over a few years with no noticeable difference in what you receive for the extra expenditure? I wouldn't be happy with that
Leasehold is a scam but shared ownership is a scam on a completely different level
this
if a house is on lease, yes you are correct in saying it is a scam but flats/apartments cannot be freehold due to the common parts within the building. Now shared ownership can be put in one word, Fu#ked and people should stay far away as possible from these.
Very informative! The Australian government is going down this track and when you look at dodgy build quality, it's a recipe for disaster....
Absolutely true. Vile crooks they are!
@@tgardner3874 That's how the law developed for property in England and Wales. During the Industrial Revolution, people moved off the estates of the Landed gentry and into towns and city-built terraces for factory workers. So the estates no longer had any workers to maintain the millions of acres and not to mention a lot of the gentry were bone idle and just squandered all of the family wealth. So they had to sell off bits of the land to keep some sort of income coming in.....Of course, they were too proud to sell the actual freehold title. The freehold was usually inherited, investitured by the monarch or invaded by whoever won the war. So the lovely aristocrats decided to sell 999-year leases to keep their land, keep their titles and keep their heads...More or less. Majority of the peasants, middle classes, industrialists, professionals were just happy to get themselves a piece of land so they didn't care that much about future generations as long as their children and grandchildren had someplace secure for most of their life. And then along came capitalism selling people leases under 80 years.......which they cannot get a mortgage for.....smh... As a millenial I've opted out. I rent and the government pays part of my rent in accordance with the cost of living...and yes I pay taxes and work but the rent and mortgages have gotten so out of control it's the only way to survive apart from Van life...but in the UK all the land is owned, regulated and restricted so you can't get go and park where ever you want like in the USA or Australia. You're welcome for the legal history lesson. In Ireland and Scotland the (mostly English) aristocrats and invaders just kicked people off the land which is for another time and therefore have different laws.
I was once in this situation. Bought a flat shared ownership. In the beginning charges seemed reasonable but after a short while they began to increase steadily. I was being charged for lift maintenance charges even though I lived on the ground floor. That’s when the penny dropped and we decided to sell up quickly even if we made a slight loss. These schemes look affordable at first but they are only an entrapment for the most vulnerable.
Do you mind if I ask how long before you sold?
You were wise 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
And then the next buyer has the nightmare 😢
Good for you that you were able to "get out" or be granted the acceptance of terminating your contract.
Most people when they sign on that dotted line, it's a : " NO WAY OUT" policy.
🙏🙏🙏🙏
Alot of women do this mistake. Oh he promised to marry me and we buy a house together lolz only to be made single mothers at the end and have to pay off the mortgage alone. Never you move into a home with a stranger just because he promised heaven and earth. Narcissist can promise you dog poop and will bring cow poop Instead. Learn to love yourself and leave alone. Alot of men are looking for helpers not relationship or marriage but someone who can attend to their selfish needs. Nope don't do it.
Service charges is what makes flats unaffordable. I absolutely hate it!
The government needs to get rid of Leaseholds as they are a rip off.
we need to get rid of this government which is ripping the people off
£3,000 a month on service charges..! was i hearing right for Giulio's flat? These housing associations are worse than slum landlords.
I almost fainted 😮 I thought they meant £300 per month but £3k 😮wow
She’s sooo fucked even the devil may cry 😅
They ARE slumlords!
They hide behind being a charity
@@stevenkillington5041 It's the only way they can get investment in the property market now.......they have to follow the lead of the private developers to bamboozle ordinary folk. At this point I'd rather live in a tent and shower at the gym. Note...none of these people have kids...who can afford kids when you can't even afford a home. They are literally building 2 bedroom flats only. If you have a boy and a girl, social services tell you that they have to have separate bedrooms by age 13. so I guess mom and dad will sleep in the living room so the kids get the two bedrooms. Ah just like victorian times, all living in one room.
My Dad always drilled it into me never buy a leasehold. Glad i listened to him.
They are fine IF the residents OWN the Freehold, held in a Ltd company, and have established their own management of the building.
Shared ownership is a scam on a different level. I have been leaseholder for over 15 years and my service charge has never exceeded £89 per month.
@@-_-11k52 Leasehold in these blocks of flats are all scams. I work in a well-known supermarket under a building worth £40 million with 54 flats mostly small 2 bed, 2 bath with a balcony in a "sought after location in London" Zone 3. I've worked there since the building tenants commercial and residential moved in in 2014. There is a massive fight between all the tenants, the developer and the landlord over who is responsible for the service and maintenance so the residential tenants have decided to stop paying the service charge (I think they don't have any more money) Well how we found this out as employees of the supermarket were when our entire ceiling caved in due to lack of maintenance earlier this year and we had to throw away a literal ton of food in the middle of a cost of living crisis and close the supermarket for a day..... the supermarket company probably loss £100,000 that day alone...I don't know about the other days because the supermarket was open but we couldn't restock everything properly. I studied property at university and worked in the property department of a law firm and my family are landlords overseas. Furthermore, I've had friends who had the same problems with ground floor new builds being flooded. I'd rather save my money and buy a piece of land overseas and run air b n b, camping and remote working from it.....because this capitalist system is not working anymore. The only people living in London now are the super-rich in Mayfair and the super-poor in council housing paid for by the treasury but as you have seen with the Cotswolds...people have bought second homes and it's no better there either ..no one used to give those short leases before because people wanted the property for their grandchildren. if you bought a property at 25 and lived to 100, there would be nothing for your children to inherit unless they had money to extend the lease another 99 years or buy the freehold outright. At least give those people 300 year leases do that 3 generations of the local people are secured? just greed and definitely do not care about the community.
@@-_-11k52 £89 a month is still a massive rip off
Nothing wrong with leasehold provided you know exactly what you're in for with regards to length and charges. If you buy a leasehold property without being informed you're just an idiot.
Wow, paying a mortgage + rent + services charges, all of which can increase, on a leasehold property is nuts.
And this Panorama is 3 years old now....imagine how much worse things are now.
yeah, add in the energy crisis.
Don’t forget ground rent too. It’s crazy.
Not to mention how bad it will get in future as more and more demand is placed on a limited supply of housing.
@@stephenmatura1086 the housing market and economy will probably crash. No one can afford the family unit anymore and if there isn't the family unit no children will be born and there won't be anyone to take jobs. Literally the handmaid's tale.
I'm so glad my fjat doesn't have service charge. The country is run by criminals
"the service charge could go up, it could go down"
Does the service charge ever go down? I highly doubt it
It will never ever go down. I laughed out loud when she said that. Grim.
@@zooldooShe was a complete crook answering them questions what a joke.
My service charge is £8500 a year. Almost doubled over the last two years.
@@iless664 Good god! McCarthy/Stone by any chance.
That Housing regulator lady was diplomatically incompetent and great for that job so the crooks can do what they want and being "regulated" it seems!
The best advice i was ever given NEVER BUY leasehold or shared ownership.
Please take this advice.
my mum told me that about leaseholds i told my mum about shared ownership
And then do what? Rent all life?
Wolfe that's your decision
Shared ownership is a massive scam
I looked it at when i was buying last year, the fees and charges are ridiculous.
I waited longer, saved more and scraped a full mortgage for a non shared ownership one luckily
You can’t convince me they aren’t making profit on the service charges. Let’s see a breakdown of where the service charge goes 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻
Not for profit does not mean the housing association staff don't pay themselves exorbitant salaries at the Tennant's expense
Absolutely, and that representative was a fucking robot with her copy/paste standard answers to the reporter's questions.
Thought the same, or their buddies “maintenance” company for those hefty service charges
@@ShavenMillsey💯HA are just full of overpaid melts handing out maintanence contracts to their mates at silly prices.
Being in the property game for many years now, I will always strongly advise that everyone stays far away from any shared ownership, you are better off renting than going into shared ownership.
But they've all been told that 'sharing' and 'community' are such virtues!
I agree. I don’t get the point of half owning a property. It’s like renting and having a mortgage at the same time 🤷🏾♀️
@@mariancounsellorat least you have some equity in the property, that’s the point
yes, you may do but at what cost and also with a trap where you pay for everything, when the cost should have been shared by the two owners, don't forget the government does not help without there being a catch for them. @@bnevillewood
I mean it would have been a good idea if the system worked correctly, the issue is that the person who buys the share is trapped and is always the one to pay everything@@mariancounsellor
I really feel for all of the participants in this documentary. I hope they find a way to escape this financial prison.
This is so scary
Never buy a leasehold!
Good advice - my Freeholder is adding spurious charges to every charge/ bill he sends me 😡
Some people are natural slaves. They cry out for the chains of indentured servitude. They have no use for freedom.
Shared ownership is PERVERSE bc it allows people who cant afford to own a home to get on the property ladder...and surprise fucking surprise they get a few years down the line and they realise they're up shits creek
"We don't generate revenue from service charges", but they do give the managers fat salaries and bonuses and contract maintenance and stuff to their friends businesses and pay double what any other businesses charges.
Yes yes yes!
If that’s true then they should be able to account for how every penny of the charge is spent and be happy to show all of this to tenants…. But they don’t and won’t!
Shared ownership property owners are not the only ones being robbed! Leasehold flat owners suffer just as much, beware of any property that has service charges, management companies are notoriously difficult and service charges will only ever increase. It's a mugs game.
Agreed, they are like the club bouncers of the 90s - conmen dressed in suits. I had nice Section 20 surprise yesterday 😢
💯
I’ve lived in leasehold properties for years. It’s an entirely equitable arrangement and I’ve loved my homes each time. No one forces you to sign the lease ! Her solicitor should have pointed the short term out to her.
If you live in a private communal building you should ABSOLUTELY seek to acquire the Freehold, establish a management company, and take total control of the ongoing costs of maintaining and running the building. With this 'Shared Ownership' rubbish that would be totally unachievable because of the legal framework of how the residents are 'In Bed' with the HA - in other words, residents will ALWAYS be subject to increases in SC without much justification of the costs as the HA has the final say in every situation. Also, it sounds as if ALOT of these people had inferior legal advice prior to committing.
Whats your solution then? For poor and working class people the shared ownership scheme is the only way. Give a solution instead of just complaining
Fucking hell that ‘refund’ for Chris’s time was outrageous, £50 off the £3k you owe which you cannot appeal. Absolutely disgusting
If he complains 59 more times, that will cover the fee... for that month at least.
@@pinatacolada7986I bet the phone bill would offset that, I bet they’re making residents dial a premium rate number
@@pinatacolada7986😂😂😂😂
Chris should take it to court
Do not believe they are not for profit for a second. She said the surplus is reinvested in to maintenance, if that is the case then why do the part-owners have to pay 100% of the service charge? It's all quite literally a scam.
Bosses will earn healthy salaries I'm sure. The contractors used will be for-profit and if we do some light digging, I'm sure the connection between the 'not for profit' housing association bosses and their chosen for profit contractors will be clear.
Govt schemes for "helping" people buy have always been a cover for ways to pump taxpayer money into the market, to enrich developers and investors
The 9 words you never want to hear:
_"I'm from the government and I'm here to help"_
I was proved right when I decided these government schemes are a con!
To be fair they do tell u it's a scheme
Great journalism unveiling further horrors of this country's crooked housing sector.
Its "Government" that is causing Shortages & Price Hikes
@@kevinleesmith Well it "takes all sorts" Kevin. Did you not know that for the last two years (almost) Government has effectively banned building in most parts of England ? ? Because of the Nutrient Neutrality Requirements ! !
@@chrislambert9435 I can't believe that because I've been looking to buy a new house for 8 months. New developments are literally everywhere.
@@kevinleesmith Actually, they are not everywhere !
@@chrislambert9435 Wow. I bow to your superior argument. How about replying to my facts and data, with facts and data?
This has been a real eye opener to me. When I heard that Chris has to pay over £10,000 in rent to the housing association I was shocked beyond words. That is so downright immoral that Parliament ought to legislate on this kind of thing. I don't believe these service charges are really justifiable either and that should be legislated on too.
parliament literally created it this way on purpose - this scheme was only created to help the big house builders sell expensive flats in London by milking people that didn't know better.
He bought 30% off a house he clearly couldn’t afford it he made a stupid decision. I agree he was allowed to make that stupid decision the provision shouldn’t of been in place for him to make such a moronic move
It's what happens when you don't read contracts
@@davidbrian1556Imagine being so dvmb that you buy 30% of a property!
"works for the Labour party". Surprise surprise. I thought commies want to abolish all private property anyways?!
Rents are very high in London. How much would it cost to rent that flat? £1400-1600 a month? He only owns 25% of it and rents the other 75% of it. His rent is the equivalent of £1111 a month if it was 100% rent. Seems like he got a good deal.
I looked at shared ownership several years ago, but after reading the terms and conditions decided against it. It only benefits banks and housebuilders.
They operate in a sector to generate a “surplus” which they invest into other homes yet they pass on a £3k a month service charge to fix the leaky pipes in a flat that they built!?!? Wow
I live in Canada and this shared ownership is something new to me. How can the government let these companies freely increase the service charge at will ? It sounds like a scam.
Service charges exist in leasehold properties. Shared ownership is a form of a leasehold property whereby you acquire part of the property over time and if the lease permits the property can become freehold.
It is a scam, there is soooooo much corruption in Britain masking as legit practices....we moved here 3 years ago and have to be so careful with everything....we came from Canada, lived in several countries in Europe and moved back to Britain.....we are older and have well paying work, also too old to be naive....but our daughter sure got a few questionable landlords when she was in Uni, we help our kids at every step when it comes to entering into any contracts at all, I know it is going to be brutally difficult for them to build their lives....parents have to step up and help any way they can, only way to stand up to these scheeming corrupt organizations, and yes!, they are corrupt even if technically they seem in the right.....I could write a short novel on how awful our real estate agent was.
UK government does not care. They care for their own pockets. As someone who wants to get a property you need to do your homework and weigh risks or else you re screwed.
Our government is one of the most incompetent in the developed world. It wont get any better when the other mob get in.
The UK government are mates with major building companies and landlords
The housing provider has literally zero risk it’s insane.
Absolutely. It is astounding how much these companies can get away with.
Well that's the whole point - they are lending money to risky people - hence why they take a lot of collateral/protection in return. The service charges and the potential for them to increase needs to be more transparent though. It's crazy that people don't understand how service charges work in apartment buildings (shared or not)
@@chrisjie2127 the way it works is by housing associations collecting way more than needed for the services, and then transferring that money from their right hand to their left hand (aka the services company - which is by the way making profit). What should be done is that tenants/owners/shares owners should have ultimate power in choosing their service providers and if they want their buildings serviced at all.
I'm sure 80%+ of tenants would be fine with giving up a concierge service that cost each flat 1000 pound/year or over 100k for the building, or at the very least provide this lucrative job to one of the tenants.
@@chrisjie2127 They're not lending to credit risks, they're lending to lower incomes. It's not the same thing at all.
@@chrisjie2127 they aren’t lending money. The banks are lending money. The housing provider is simply selling a share of the flat whilst screwing the other part owner with extortionate rent and then hiking up the service charge to delusional levels because they couldn’t predict how much it would cost to run the services. If they screw that calculation, it should be on them to bare the risk. They have zero risk if they can freely increase the service charge by 2x 3x the original promise.
This is absolutely disgusting and I’m so glad I watched this documentary as I was considering shared ownership. Sadly a freehold property is out of my budget so it looks like I’ll be renting forever. This country desperately needs more social housing/secure long term rentals.
Move out of the main city, Northampton is within an hour 1/2 to London. Northampton is very cheap.
I’m thinking you could move to a cheaper area and commute to work or purchase like a really cheap terraced property that needs a complete revamp. I know none of them are ideal but it’s all I can think of :( I purchased my house at auction in covid so i got a really good deal. Good luck lovely x
I have a background in construction and have always known that UK newbuilds are to be avoided at all costs. Years ago I looked at shared ownership but concluded that in a rising market it wasn't sustainable. My advice is similar to the above; move outside of London; don't buy a new build (unless you are at the very top end of the market you'll come a cropper). Finally try and buy a freehold house. You can always move later when your circumstances change. Service charges can also be unpredictable in the private market
I’m thinking of leaving this country . If you can’t own a home and are forced to pay rent which is more than the value of the property you are renting, it’s just unfair and wrong . Rent is dead money - you are either paying another persons mortgage or helping a corrupt housing association with its dangerous slum housing. I’m trying to save and get qualification , perhaps pick another language up so I can move. There is no decent pension, crumbling health service and it’s all doom and gloom. I’m keeping my options open
@@sofiakhan4580Renting is not dead money. It provides you with somewhere to live, while not being responsible for maintenance and you can move at relatively short notice and low cost.
Horrible living in a flat with service charges. Do not do it! Flats are for renting only. These companies have open access to your bank account and they will take what they can get away with. My first property was a flat. It started off with the service charge at about £1300 a year. Within 3 years it had gone up to £2300. No increase in service, no explanation given. The place didn't even have any amenities or gardens to maintain. It was just a stairwell that got vacuumed once a week. Unless you do a right to manage with fellow residents then there's nothing you can do. The problem with that is most people in flats are (sensibly) renting with a high turn over rate and so have no skin in the game. You also live in fear or a major bill coming through for a roof rebuild or something. Needless to say I sold it after that final increase letter for a house. The sense of relief was incredible. You have been warned. Do not buy flats!
I'd never do it. I worked as a commercial property paralegal back in 06-07 and we would take a red pen and strike through all the service charge provisions and state it could only go up by 5 to 10 percent every year and no compound interest either or sinking fund for the roof or lift or foundations!!...and that's a 5-30 year business lease not a 67-99 year residential lease!! It's a scam!!
Flats are indeed just for renting and being used to start out. I'd never buy one as I think it's a waste of money - in most places outside of London you can usually get a modest proper house for very similar money, very often freehold, and that's just a nicer life overall. You get a garden, you might get a driveway, you're not constantly turning away misdelivered parcels and takeaways because the addressing scheme is confusing, you don't have Slavved up cars at 1am or someone's music thrumming through the walls.
I grew out of that and soon got pissed off with it.
You can't really do anything with a flat in terms of remodelling, etc. unless you live in a very expensive block where the residents have more freedom.
The first property I bought was a flat. Didn't really want to buy a flat, but that was all I could afford. Anyway, my service charges just kept going up and up. So, I decided to sell and use the profit to buy a house. Flats can be a good way to help you eventually buy a house. Five years in a flat with ever increasing service charges is more than enough.
@@BB_arbie The problem is that most people can only afford one property and when you can't sell or move you are stuck in a situation where you can lose it all.
in my case the reasons they provided for the increase were 'damage to interior walls and items being thrown from the roof'. Yes people used throw TVs off the roof and the flat beneath me was a heroin dealer's base which got raided but other than those things, no reasons, and the same point about hoovering the stairwells!
As a non-British person, I've always been perplexed by the British leasehold option. I can't imagine why anyone would buy these properties when they come with a sword of Damocles hanging over your head.
I had a leasehold a few years ago - if managed sincerely its not an issue but almost none of them are, they operate with impunity and can literally charge what ever they feel like on a whim and if you refuse them YOU potentially go to prison not them. Its a hangover of the feudal system that we have never been able to shake off as parliamentary interests have their money in the pockets of freeholds
Simple. Lack of education. This is what the Conservatives’ are promoting so there are less people who can call out their and their mates’ corruption.
It's probably a choive between either that or nothing at all.
I have a leasehold, but the management company is run by us, the flat owners. Works really well, and is essentially a share of freehold but with more legal power. I would never buy a leasehold run by an independent business as that's when you get problems.
All property in the US is leasehold. Citizens cannot own property just transferable leases from the government. Don't believe me? Try not paying your rent (called property taxes to disguise what it really is) and the government will throw you out and sell your lease by auction to another.
Shared ownership is such a sham. My friend has been trapped in a shared ownership scheme and can't get out of it without incurring a huge loss
@@wildhog-j1woh be quiet, racist
I bought 40% shared ownership in 86, it was the only way to get on the ladder,
Back then it was run by development corporation ( council spin off ) and I did manage to buy the other 60% later on at a reasonable rate which was discounted due to the rent I'd paid, there was no service charge and rent was reasonable.
Things changed for the worse when private firms started taking over.
I would not touch these with a barge pole, better to buy a smaller house or rent or better still if you can live with mum and dad and save up hard and work your ass off to get the money,
One other note , do not be tempted to buy with a friend, if you want to do that sort of thing just rent them a room.
I grew up in south london (Battersea) lived there 36 years. Due to the ridiculous cost of property and being a single parent with 2 young children. I was very close to purchasing a shared ownership property seeing it as a sense of security and being on the property ladder. With thorough investigating on how it really works I saw the pitfalls and the actual trap of this scheme.
I've had to relocate from my home town of london, leaving friends and family etc to move to Nottinghamshire 3 hours from london. Its been hard doing such a big move as nothing was familiar and having no friends or close people. Its taken a year to make some nice friends and for the children to feel fully settled in school and our surroundings.
But, having a freehold 3 bedroom house, with garden and driveway in a lovely green area has been worrh the life change of starting again. Having a property with no mortgage is security everyone wants but if like me your from London as a single person unless you earn an impressive wage to own a 2million pound house your only options are to rent paying the owners mortgage, fall into the smoke and mirrors trap of shared ownership or move and relocate.
Im totally disgusted at the system and the way that Kate Henderson litterally danced around straightforward questions in that interview, rather than being empathetic to how awfully unfqir and hard it is for people in shared ownership. She literally was a C#NT in a horrid flowery shirt smirking giving her answers. Really doubt she lives in a shared ownership property.
One of the worst CEOs of an organisation I've ever seen interviewed
Nottinghamshire is a great place to live, people are really down to earth.
Bravo to you for taking a leap of faith! In years to come you'll be so happy. Good luck to you and your family
and your kids when they get older will be put in a similar situation being unable to afford a home
@@sophiec544 I have found that people here tend to stop and talk as oppose to just saying hi and always in a rush like in London. Lots of natural greenery, cleaner air, open spaces, parks etc here.
Clarion gave us 3 days notice of a service charge underestimate they were applying to our account of over £3000. They're now harassing residents to pay it.
Extortion !
Excellent journalism. I have lived in shared ownership since 1987 and can vouch that all this is absolutely correct.
Perphaps it was in the past, now run by criminals and supported by the greedy Torries ...
I was going to go shared ownership and the mortgage advisor at my bank strongly suggested not going for shared ownership because she said it is almost impossible to fully buy the home and very difficulty to sell. Its difficult to sort things if things go wrong.
I was lucky that a flat came up in my budget tbh and it was nice and not run down but I know this doesnt happen every day
The root cause of this problem is people buying things that they cannot afford. What makes this worse is that it artificially inflates property prices, which costs everyone, and has a negative impact on the economy. If everyone was more financially literate, they wouldn't sign up for things that they can't afford, and we'd all be better off.
For example, 1 person in the video said they had saved for a long time and had a really good deposit, and then it showed they had ...... a £15k deposit! £15k is NOTHING for a flat in London!! What did they expect? You can't own a place in London with such a small amount of money. When I bought my house in the poorest region in the UK, I had a £25k deposit with a further £20k+ for renovations. Ignorance isn't an excuse.
Toss off, if I were to even try and save 40k it'd take me 40 years.
If you grew up in foster care you'd have a completely different view, ya snobby cum licking c*nt.
There's a reason they don't teach economics in school.
There's a reason they don't teach economics in the public school system BUT DO teach it in the private school system.
The wolves have figured out that the easier way to catch sheep is make sure the next generation of sheep don't even know what wolves are.
What a horrible take. The point you are missing is that it was affordable until the service charges / management fees started going up by ridiculous amounts. Pretty simple to be honest. If this didn’t happen then guess what it would be affordable and would be a really good way to buy a property in stages. Not everyone is a savings paragon of virtue such as yourself and able to save £45K
@@darkstarr2321 that's an uninformed take. The fees went up as per the contract that they signed. Therefore it is their fault for signing up to a contract which they couldn't afford.
The lass who claimed that a £15k deposit was a large amount for a deposit in London is an idiot and displayed that she has no financial acumen.
I am so glad I found this , I was thinking to do it. no anymore !
Pay a mortgage on a LEASE and then rent at the same time.... madness!
UK's a depressing place to live now, very sad.
It's happening all over the world.
@@marleyhill34Globalism.
No it's just London
And yet more and more people come to live here , everyday
@@HowardNeil-k5rthey do but most of them don’t buy houses 😅
This looks like a racket to me, follow the money and see who controls these housing companies…
Bought my 50% shared ownership back in 2006. Was single at the time and the newspapers were full of the old 'if you dont get on the housing market' you never will. Luckily met somebody who owned their own property outright, when we decided to get married I just couldnt sell the bloody thing. Eventually did but made a loss.....might as well have rented!
Couldnt imagine my situation if I'd have been stuck there now.
Did you sell the property within the first 5 years from when you bought it? If so you would have made a loss regardless if you bought it with a full mortgage.
@@hubbletelescope1721how come? Is there a levee for selling before 5?
@@sighfly2928it varies company to company. Some don’t like you selling up before X years and will find you a large amount if you do. Nearly happened to my sister but she got lucky as at the time the legal documents weren’t clear and she won her case
@@sighfly2928 no it's because of the fact that generally under normal market conditions if you sell your property within 5 years from when you acquired it then you are highly likely to make a loss regardless of the property you buy. This is especially the case for leased or mortgaged properties as, in case of mortgaged properties there would be extra fees for paying off the mortgage early (depending on your mortgage terms and conditions) and in case of properties in general you have to pay various legal fees and taxes which (compared to renting over the same 5 year or so period) exceed the cost of renting in the same place with rent increasing by market value.
Therefore if you are ever buying a property make sure this is a location you want to live for for around 5 years or you will make a loss.
@@hubbletelescope1721 No. was probably there about 8/9 years. Was only a small loss mind and as I was moving into a mortgage free property I soon made my loss back.
Kelly’s solicitor on purchase should have advised her of the short lease. If she didn’t understand that that she was buying a short lease, why did her solicitor not note this? That was their job.
Agreed, but she should have also done her research.
Yes, solicitor should point out. But if your buying, you need to do your research so you don’t get screwed over by seller or solicitor.
I don’t believe someone buying a leasehold flat doesn’t understand what classes as a short lease.
some people unfortunately especially when money is tight go for a quick type of conveyance and surveyor's report......that will absolve the professionals from risk because you opted to go for the cheapest advice which doesn't cover everything and there will be a disclaimer saying that you only wanted a basic service. I worked in a law firm £500 conveyances are bare bones and do not point out the risks. What we did for commercial clients was a 20 page report pointing out every risk on a 200 page lease for a 5, 10. 20 or 30 year lease for a fee of minimum £1600...and that was the fee 15 years ago. Double or triple it now. My wage is definitely double now what that firm my paying me as junior admin staff.
I agree totally@@orangegirl73
Oh dear Chris. “Works in Property” and still done up like a kipper by your housing association
lol! I know...maybe he's just and estate agent. I was a paralegal and I read any lease from top to bottom in 2 hours and another hour to write a report and analyze the risks for my commercial clients. I always got my deposit back at uni.
If he was a bigshot property mogul he wouldn't be living in that kind of home... he's likely just a high street estate agent.
Absolutely intended so that these poor souls either pay through the nose or get in arrears and lose their share. I wonder who financially benefits from that 🤔🙄
When moving to Manchester four years ago and looking for property, I received never-ending promotional material for these shared ownerships. I suspected then, that costs and service charges would deliberately go through the roof, rendering costs too expensive and basically then screwing the owner/tenants completely over!! YET these companies are getting away with it. They know exactly what they are doing, hence the hard sell.
Not to mention as this doc shows, the appalling state of many of the builds!
It is totally vile corruption😡
It's all by design. It's a cliché bit when the so called one's at the top say "You will own nothing and be happy". They really mean it.
I have always heard from so many people that share holding is a scam. Because in the end you never end up entirely owning your home. Instead you pay more in the end for other peoples costs, when their not able to make payment. It's a horrible idea!
Depends on what the lease says. It's all down to the final contract which will stipulate how often you can staircase and how much you can own in total. But I do agree the system needs a reform now but we can't be trusted that Tories will do it correctly because they can't get anything right.
Absolutely vile. Stuff like this makes me want to leave the country. I’m so ashamed and disappointed the citizens aren’t taken care of better when comes to homes. I’m a young person not on the property ladder and honestly find property buying an utter minefiled. Feel so sorry for these people. Great journalism.
I left and very pleased that I did! It’s a lot better here in Australia! Sad what has happened to the uk quality of life because of housing affordability.
UK is a mess and i partially blame the brexit and toxic politics. I left shortly after the brexit and....i think its the right choice for my kids. sad but...thats the truth
The UK is very overrated in my opinion, my advice to anyone- get out whilst you can.@@KolyaNickD
If I was in my 20s or 30s and not on the property ladder, I'd be getting out of the UK ASAP.
It isn’t any better anywhere else sadly
This is despicable and criminal preying on these ‘part-owners’. They do this to ensure the homes never fully belong to them. My friend moved to a HA flat last year. Their rent has been increased 4 times since (in under a year) !! Of course the service charge goes up in tandem too. The first increase was 8 weeks after moving in ! It’s criminal to punish people who are already financially vulnerable. They claim it’s because the cost of living has gone up.
Rendall and Rittner has increased the service charges of my one-bed flat in west London from £3,000+ to £6,000+ since we bought it in 2018. It's not a shared ownership, but regardless, the Lease should be restricted by legislation or regulation that the freeholder and its service company cannot increase the service charge as much as they want.
If you cannot sell due to an ongoing assessment as to whether it’s effectively “sellable” the housing agency should buy you out.
Great journalism. Sadly I’m in similar position. I bought a shared ownership property thinking it will give me freedom and stability and that my dream of being home owner is finally coming true. Little did I know it would lead to severe anxiety and constant fear of losing everything and becoming homeless 😢
start researching living abroad, and taking you skills with you. You could eg set up a business in Spain easily, and if youre competent you will clean up. I own a biz in Spain, employ 12 people, im not rich but the stress went yrs ago. I watch these UK docs just to feel safe and thankful.
Sorry that you are going through this. I hope you are able to find a solution soon.
@@growsethjones7249they can do that, but it's very rare that it happens.
@@growsethjones7249 this is very difficult and it will happen to a lot of ex council property leaseholders - these flats tend to not have been maintained for a long time and coming to a point of necessary repairs and the council freeholders don't run sinking funds to slowly collect contributions from leaseholders over the years for future major works (which is how commonhold works everywhere in the world). So the major works bills just falls on whoever owns the flat in that moment, even if you happen to only just bought it.
@@meisterlymanu5214 I can relate. I left the UK just after the Brexit vote and took my skills elsewhere as a Digital Nomad, working freelance in a variety of areas. I eventually became a Polish citizen by descent and moved to Poland. Seeing these depressing UK documentaries triggers me knowing the situation I could have been in if I hadn't sold my shared ownership cash cow hellhole!
It's not a profit, it's a surplus. Lmao
FML! 🤬
As if a service charge ever goes down!
I lived in council housing in the 00s and one year it did go down. Lol! Housing associations that are actually run by private developers? no chance. Lol!
@@marleyhill34 haha! You got the exception that proves the rule. Yes ALMOST everyone has their snout in the trough these days. Outsourcing is a pain. I can't get the air conditioner serviced because the contractors keep quoting for a new system, which isn't needed. They inflate their quotes. I'm going to have to do it myself. Switch off the main power, open the system, take out the bent circuit which I saw him straighten and put back in, instead of replacing the circuit. Dodgy Bros are everywhere and the ones who aren't are retired.
I am ending up able to do lots of things that really in a sane world, you shouldn't have to do. I've got a full set of tools now, 3 ladders, one platform, etc. I've joined a Tool Library, and learning skills all the time. It just goes on.
This is a massive scam.
Remember kids: if you can't buy something outright, don't buy it. Better to live in a tent.
I’ve never understood the expectation on the shared owner when it comes to repair costs and service charges. If the government were really serious about helping those on the property ladder they would introduce a law that splits all repair costs fairly based on the percentage of ownership for both new and existing shared owners
My parents bought a shared ownership house in 2000 for £179k. They owned 50% and stayed there for 20 years. When we left, it cost £590k. My learnings from their experience of shared ownership: 1. Buy a house if you can and avoid service charges, 2. Buy a property that is relatively cheap to start off with and buy as much (in % terms) as possible because staircasing isn’t easy and it’s expensive, 3. Understand possible mortgage, service charge and rent increases, 4. Understand your repair responsibilities, 5. It may be very difficult to sell your share in the future given costly nature of all components and 6. Ensuring your lease doesn’t fall below the articulated amount of years (this wasn’t made clear to my parents either) and they took a £10k hit from the value of their share so the buyers could extend it themselves. The issue now is that SO properties (especially in London) are overpriced and the service charges are astronomical to start off with that small changes in any part of mortgage, service charges and/rents equation can be crippling - it no longer makes sense.
Suffice to say, my first property is a house bought outside of London!
In 20 years you'd get more than 3.2x growth if you invested that money in the stock market.
@@jonathan2847needed the shelter!
Step 1: don't buy shared ownership
Mortgages, rent and services charges go up whether you are SO or own outright. SO houses don't usually pay services charges. Any flat owners will pay them whether they are SO or not.
Shared ownership, biggest scam ever. I had countless friends and family try to get me to consider shared ownership. Glad I didn’t I could see the scam for what it was
Such small and cluttered homes at ridiculous prices
That's the UK for you, out of most people's reach to have a large property here.
Clutter is their own personal choice. Materialism & hoarding causes clutter. You can live in a small or big home & it will be cluttered if that’s the way the person lives. Or have zero clutter in a small or big home.
I absolutely detest clutter. A cluttered home = a cluttered mind.
It’s London that’s why. But why it’s so expensive I don’t know I’d hate to live there.
@@Probity100it depends what you define as clutter, living in an ancient cottage we have loads of quality items it’s a pain moving them to clean but don’t want to sell them.
Clutter isn’t what this programme is about 🙄
I stayed in an Airbnb in Edingbrough while looking for a place to rent. As I stayed there for a few months I got to know the family quite well, and realised they only rented out the room to make ends meat, after their service charges had gone through the roof. She also explained to me that if the residents took the housing association to court they were liable for the housing association's costs. So is a bit like suing yourself!
I was considering going into shared property ownership, luckily my dad taught me to look at things objectively and if they look too good to be true there's a high chance of it being a scam. This documentary and a lot of own research only confirmed it. Also, new owner's scheme for essential workers such as myself (NHS) seems just as difficult.
Those so called developers and property management companies are just evil 👿
11.27 will shock you
£3000 a MONTH just for service charges let alone mortgage AND the RENT 😮
This is heartbreaking,such nice people being treated this way.
The sheer complexity of it is a risk factor.
There is sleight of hand going on-offering a way in to starter homes and,then, entrapping people.
I'm of a similar situation, born and bred there. Always my home.
My grandparents went to the UK for a better life, im now in the place where they left; because of a much higher salary.
I went back this year after 10 years away. Im livid at what has happened to the country.
it's happening everywhere. I have family and Friends in Barbados, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands, USA, Nigeria, Canada and Japan, all wanted better education and job opportunities ( in some cases any job opportunity will do) They all have problems with housing, child care, mortgage and rising energy bills. I'm the only one still managing to stay afloat because I live in the UK with free healthcare, I work for a supermarket (so I worked all through the pandemic) and I get a disability payment to keep me out of hospital beds. I get discounted food and live within walking distance of my job and I get transport for my 3 hospital outpatient appointments a week. I can still go on a 1week overseas vacation every year...although I'm thinking of staying home more and more. My friends and family cannot go on vacation every year. Despite earning way more than I do.
The houses in the UK are now only affordable to foreigners who buy in cash. Some of these buyers… their own countries There’s are two very expensive areas where I live. Houses come up for sale and are bought cash by mainly 🇨🇳 and M.E buyers. The minute it’s listed, it bought in cash. Most of these homes have been empty for years.
Their own countries do NOT allow any foreigners to buy/own houses or land. UK is a joke.
@@Probity100 The real issue with the super rich is that they don't spend money like we do.
The super rich don't just spend their savings on things. What often happens is they use their wealth as clout to get a long line of credit or a very favourable loan, then use that to buy what they want. They then use the income and interest from their _other_ assets to pay down the loan.
Et voila. You have used passive income to purchase something more or less for free, because you didn't have to part with any of your own assets to buy it. For bonus points, whatever you've bought will be owned by a dodgy shell company and you will simply lease it from there. You can plausibly claim you don't own it, hence the tax liability is reduced.
You can even use the same 'hack' to simply lease a luxury car rather than buy it, because your passive income covers the lease payments no problem and you get the new model after three years or so.
well said, adn well done @@marleyhill34
@@marleyhill34yep happening in Japan too. My wifes sister cannot buy a house there. The standard of living has dropped to terrible levels in what was 3 decades ago the richest country in the world.
My cousin had a look at a shared property and they would have been paying £450.00 for the mortgage and £390.00 for the rent and this was last year before the mortgage crisis. It's an absolute scam.
😳😱
“Service charges can go up AND GO DOWN…. Since wen?
Don't buy new builds as the quality is poor. It's an international phenomenon and governments ignore it. Certification is worthless. You have more protection buying a toaster than a property.
Ain't that the truth, lol!
We learnt the hard way.
One of my very good school friends went to trade school/community college/adult college and learnt how to do all the building work and had her property done from scratch and it was her, her mother and her sisters. all women!! I'm thinking of doing that and doing some cash in hand jobs from down the local pub because these people love to bamboozle you in property and I studied property law and worked as a property paralegal once for a firm....very eye opening!!
@t-fh7ol Get yourself on a builder course down the local adult college and on the new build forums. Down my street I watched a guy rebuild a garden wall with such precision I was totally impressed. He reused all the bricks and he didn't need to run a plumb line. Of course he would have wondered who is this girl coming up to me asking about brick work....Brick work is the foundation of any property you live in....unless you live in a wooden house...then I suggest going to a carpentry course. I learnt a lot about damp from an energy forum and my dehumidifier cost me next to nothing in my B-rated energy flat. I grew up in the tropics so no damp issues there but plenty of bad brick, plumbing, carpentry and paint jobs there. Painted my parents kitchen last year. Do not let damp and cracks fester in a property that you own. tackle it sooner than later.
I won't buy anything built around 2005- 2010 - back then people were building with cardboard and glue.
I was tempted to get a shared ownership flat but im glad ive stayed away. Complete scam!
Lease hold status for housing stock should be abolished full stop.
There are many leasehold properties...the problem is when they give people un-mortgageable leaseholds.....999 is the standard but 300 will do for most people.
@@marleyhill34 If you are looking at 300 years what's the point, might as well make it freehold in the first place.
@@davidscamerajourney It has to do with the way how the property law was developed in the UK before and after the Industrial Revolution. The land registry do make the 999 year leases into freeholds for a small fee....but when you have big estates like the monarchy and the aristocracy and various trusts like Peabody they want the property back as trustees. It's a way of keeping landed titles for future generations. None of this exists in New World territories obviously. I used to read title deeds for a living. At least the UK had good records on who owned the land 500 years ago....Spain and Italy and Greece....a whole other problem and Germany had records destroyed in the wars. In Russia, the socialist government also destroyed a lot of the records as they got rid of their aristocracy.
@@marleyhill34It's 2023, I think the UK is ready to move past serfdom.
@@Anasteroiddestroyer Highly unlikely, we've got people living in tents like nomads again....and they are not refugees.
Never buy leasehold - the costs increase yearly and you have no control over maximum charges and it never ends
17 years in this scheme, not 1 day I didn’t think what shit I had put myself into. My wage don’t rise much over the years, no way I could borrow more to buy the remaining share, the part rent & service charge kept going up to an unaffordable level. It’s a true scam.
Thanks for this documentaries!
So shared ownership is a scam basically! Can't believe they've been lied to and trapped! Horrific
We bought shared ownership house in 2007. After a few years the rent and service charge went up ridiculously. You get nothing for your rent. L&Q said as they're a charity the rent goes towards building new houses. Fortunately my husband had a few promotions so we manged to buy 100% this year. It was a mission to sort this out though.
We still have to pay a huge service charge just for someone to blow the leaves around outside.
Thank you for highlighting this issue regarding shared ownership!!
I wanted to do this!! I'm now glad I didn't...
I feel it for those people who are going through this😢
You should look in to the cladding in these buildings in Greenwich from these housing associations. They can’t even sell. The same cladding as grenfell. So not only is it dangerous, mortgages refuse to mortgage them
Your far off better renting than buying a shared property. Its a scam. Flats are hard to sell compared to a house. Service charge in a flat buy nothing you pay for is given to you the renter or buyer. The only thing cleaned is the stairs in the flat but the garden is hardly cut or any repairs carried or done. Buying a flat is a scam . Flats are for renting not buying
I was going to buy a flat (leasehold and not shared ownership) with reasonable service fees, but the management company were dragging their feet to give us info. Our inspection report revealed a bunch of easy to fix issues that should have been covered by the service fees and there was no reason they shouldn't be fixed. When we finally got the documentation from the management company, multiple flats had not been paying their fees, meaning there was a deficit that would have to be covered by massively increased fees the following year. I felt bad pulling out because the owners were clearly desperate to get out, but I'd still be stuck there now if I bought it!
Wow! Was considering this but this opened my eyes! Not worth it!!
She says it's important that a service charge is stated that it could go up or down. I wonder how many service charges have ever decreased?
Anyone that is considering a shared ownership unit, keep in mind that any recladding costs after Grenfell are given fully to the shared ownership tenants. Give that a chance to to sink in.
They should teach this type of stuff in schools and show more of this kind of thing at peak viewing times on tv. It affects thousands of lives. Stop showing all the 'I'm a Celebrity dog sh1t' nonsense.
😂😂😂
So we'll said. They should teach basic Legal practices as a lesson....for high school kids imagine the debating interest in schools!!!!!!
Tell me you don’t own anything, without telling me you don’t own anything.
They should start a group action. This is disgusting behaviour
Don't worry
The whole country is going to be disabled soon
You can’t win with the service charge people
@@yagushka seems that way! License to print money… or find their next rip off development… 😡
I'd like a breakdown of the service charge figures. It's heart breaking for the lady who is trapped.@@yagushka
None of this makes any sense at all. Service charges are a licence to print money…
Also, how the hell did Kelly get a mortgage on a lease that was only 78 years long???
When she bought it, it was longer than that I think. But depends on how much deposit you have and if they government as they do were selling specially mortgages.....they do the same thing with ISAs. Hey take up this ISA never mine there's a fee on it!!
Better off renting or moving somewhere you can afford to buy. Shared ownership is both buying and renting...why would you.
Or a tent...or van
The world needs fools.
You hope the value of the property will go up, and equity increases, maybe enabling you to buy a place outright
You get equity with shared ownership unlike renting
@@anthonyharris2930You can get 'equity' whilst renting, dvmmy!
It always seemed to me that shared ownership was the worst of both worlds because you get a mortgage and a rent plus service charges. At the end of the day it’s your money and your responsibility how you spend it, but what can we expect when there are vast numbers of people who don’t even understand the difference between a credit and debit card or freehold and leasehold.
It’s like this up and the down the country … leasehold flats service charge went up significantly since the pandemic mostly due to high insurance premiums… I used to be a leaseholder and my service went up from 1800 to 3700 in 2 years. It’s madness!
Thanks Jay btw for posting, forgot to say (D'oh)!🤗
Why is this described as 'shared' as none of the agreements are based on sharing, but with more (if not only) veto rights for the (next to no risk) money provider! A scam supported/mandated by the government, with unequal rights & obligations in a 'contract'.... is that lawful?
Expat 🇬🇧 left my beautiful country 40 years ago .. coukd see the writting
Look at it now.. Nothing Works Massive Debt and Show me a politician ill show you a Crime👎🇬🇧
i left after brexit. Came back a bit and didn't like the changes. left in 2018. love the uk but im watching it struggle from afar.
@@thePOWERofART-11 where are you now
@joe-vl3nd Emigrant, not expat.
@@thePOWERofART-11 The UK has shat itself. I haven't been abroad since 2017, but just about everyone I know who _has_ been abroad more recently comes back and immediately feels depressed at what they've come home to.
They tell tales of foreign cities where the streets are spotless and the bins are emptied twice a day. Public transport runs to the nanosecond, has brand new shiny vehicles and is so cheap it's basically free. The people are friendlier and more chill. Really nice local festivals and markets, hotel prices are lower than the UK equivalent, crime rate is lower (and if there is any crime you'll find about 14 million well-trained, well-paid, and no-nonsense police officers just round the corner), and you can see a doctor before you need one almost MInority Report-style.
Granted there are some exceptions (e.g. Barcelona and most major French cities), but they come back to a feeling of despondency and wondering how the UK got it so wrong.
Imo we should move away from this obsession with home ownership and concentrate on reducing rental costs and improving renters security as long as they are reliable payers who follow the rules on the lease.
Many other countries aren't as obsessed as we are with home ownership .
This is simply heartbreaking.
Please shared ownership is a killer if it goes wrong. Avoid it like the plague it is all one way. Like lease hold avoid.
There’s so much to say but unfortunately, when you enter into shared ownership, it’s just like having 2 landlords - the bank (mortgage) and the council ( rent). The woman who tried to sell her house when she didn’t own it was a bit naive. I feel some sympathy for the woman who had to pay for repairs but did she get a survey carried out or read the small print? It’s very sad all around but it’s always best to think about what you can afford, especially if there’s any financial changes. As a long-term renter, I factor in rent increases, potential changes from landlord etc. That’s all you can really do.
Very good and informative program. Many thanks to Panorama for bringing these severe and unjust problems to light. Commendable investigation. Thank you. Gerry
Watching this is hard. Reasons listed is exactly why I stayed away from Shared Ownership despite a lot of (arguably bad) advice to do so.
As an European, I don’t understand the lease at all. I was in the process of purchasing a flat, no service charge( only two flats in the building) but after 6 months, the landlord pulled out because I have a small dog. I disclaimed that in the beginning, solicitor knew, their solicitor knew. the agents knew. There were many red flags I can see now and I can see where it was a blessing. the confusion around the lease, charges and the pet issues/permission led me to move further to South Yorshire, but go for a terrace 2 bedroom house. It needs renovation and in my country a flat is a less hassle option that a house, hence the costs of dealing with house. It seems here in the UK is otherwise, even without the shared ownership. When u are buying a property, u ‘d glad not to have a PTSD at the end. So lenghtly, costly process, no wonder there is a crisis on the housing market and literally all can fall apart till the very last moment. And u are lucky if you find a solicitor who is actually decent and honest. Not perfect but better for sure. And I have two dogs now with my own permission.
Oh I should add that, we couldn’t get hold off the service company despite there was no charge, we needed some paperwork. It was frustrating. I questioned the agency and the parties for its credibility, it was too long. The sale of flat going on for 5 months, negotiated the price from small mortgage to going cash…in most of EU countries something like flat is matter of 2-3 weeks cash.
There are regular articles in the free Metro newspaper of people who have bought expensive shared ownership properties. Some of the properties advertised are valued at over half a million pounds !!! The owners have to pay for a mortgage, the rent to the housing association which goes up each year and a service charge which goes up each year. When the owners retire the rent and service charge still have to be paid. I would not recommend this scheme to first time buyers.
Not enough room to swing your arms around in most of the rooms. And then to have 3 kids! Should have tied a knot in something until they had the housing situation under better control. But all of those flats (apart from the swanky one) were too small and a mess because there is nowhere to put anything.
Not to mention if you want to buy an additional share in the property you have to pay it at the cost of what the value of the property is at the time which is usually higher and If you sell the property you will only get back the value it was at the time of purchase.
That's mad, whats the point of buying something knowing that your almost certainly going to have to sell it at a loss?@@ItaintmeCCC
" no profit" on service charges is cobblers.
The housing association know in advance how much they will receive in £££ and can ' budget' to spend every penny.
Only a cretin would read the 'free' metro anyway.
I have a 2 bedroom shared ownership flat brought a 35% share 5 years ago. Best decision I've ever made love my flat I've saved up enough in 5 years to buy another 20% share next year. To me it's better than renting
Katie, the current exploitation of service charges is indefensible. People are not stupid and clearly realise prices go up and down. You were asked to explain how 50-60% increases are justifiable. With those kinds of increases, people would have to pay 4-5k for service charges next year. If that's not a scam, I don't know what it is. To make matters worse, the services they are supposed to provide are abysmal and offer ridiculously poor value for money!
Indeed, my block has zero decorations or amenities. I pay £250 service charge for a one bedroom apartment. The managing company has no incentive to control expenses since they recharge 100% to us ......in countries in which the neighbours decide on what services/maintenance to purchase the charges are way lower -