Terms & Conditions

[peterdelamothe]

Interesting. I am not sure if this is sale and rent back then….Carrying on sale and rent back activities are regulated activities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (SI 2001/544) but of course this agreement was prior to this.

Are they excluded under the life tenancy they say they have? These are treated as a 90 year lease. But CH/0883/2006 pointed out they needed to be registered. Often not in family agreements but with an investment firm regulated by the FCA? You would need to ask the claimant to clarify that and / or contact the company or this might be clear from the Land R.

Either way it sounds as if they might be liable for a loose form of “rent” but excluded from HB under the long lease. I was very dubious about the legality of this scheme but it might well have been all these years ago. If I was advising them I would suggest they speak to the FCA who can sometimes intervene.

I agree that Mr Lewis would be unimpressed. But then is this any difference to the “Mortgage prisoners held captive by ‘zombie lenders’ risk losing their homes because of rising interest rates”? Northern Rock and others who no longer exist had their mortgages sold to aggressive firm who charge incredible rates? No regulation at the time and still a problem in 2023. This is probably the same!