Thousands of leaseholders who paid a doubled ground rent will receive refunds following action from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The CMA has secured undertakings from nine companies that bought freeholds from housing developer Taylor Wimpey.

A further four national developers – Crest Nicholson, Redrow, Miller Homes and Vistry – have also agreed to work with the companies who purchased their freeholds to remove doubling terms. The move will impact over 5,000 households throughout the UK, with many who paid a doubled rent receiving a refund.

All nine firms must now remove contract terms that cause ground rents to double in price every 10 years. These terms can lead to people being trapped in homes they cannot sell or mortgage.

The firms will also remove contract terms which were originally doubling clauses, but were converted so the ground rent increased in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI). The CMA described the original doubling clauses as “unfair” and stated that they should therefore have been fully removed – not replaced with another term that still increases the rent.

The latest action by the CMA brings the total number of homeowners that have benefitted from the regulator’s investigation to over 20,000.

Interim chief executive of the CMA, Sarah Cardell, commented: “For years leaseholders have been plagued by what we believe are unfair practices. That’s why we sought to tackle the problem by launching action against some of the biggest names in the business.

“As a result of our work, over 20,000 people now have a new lease of life, freed from issues like costly doubling ground rent terms.”

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Greg Clark, added: “This is good news that will see thousands of leaseholders get the refunds they are entitled to.

“Levelling up home ownership and creating a fairer, more transparent leasehold system is a top priority for this government, and these agreements are an example of this in action.

“We will work with the CMA to continue challenging industry on its practices, so we can ensure more leaseholders get the fair deal they deserve.”

All affected leaseholders will now see their ground rents remain at the original amount – which is when the property was first sold – and this will not increase over time, the CMA confirmed.

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