Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey axes ground rent rises

Thousands of leaseholders who bought homes from housebuilder Taylor Wimpey will no longer be subjected to ground rents that double every 10 years.

The change follows action by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The builder had voluntarily given formal commitments to remove the terms from leasehold contracts, the CMA said.

The effect of these increases, which kick in every 10 years, is that people often struggle to sell or obtain a mortgage on their home.

The CMA launched enforcement action against four housing developers in September 2020.

These were Countryside and Taylor Wimpey, for using "possibly unfair contract terms", and Barratt Developments and Persimmon Homes over the possible mis-selling of leasehold homes.

Countryside and Persimmon have already agreed to make changes.