Privacy Policy
BACKGROUND:
Property118 Ltd understands that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used and shared online. We respect and value the privacy of everyone who visits this website,
www.property118.com (“Our Site”) and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a manner that is consistent with Our obligations and your rights under the law.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it. Your acceptance of Our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of Our Site
. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, you must stop using Our Site immediately.
- Definitions and Interpretation
In this Policy the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Account” |
means an account required to access and/or use certain areas and features of Our Site; |
“Cookie” |
means a small text file placed on your computer or device by Our Site when you visit certain parts of Our Site and/or when you use certain features of Our Site. Details of the Cookies used by Our Site are set out in section 13, below; |
“Cookie Law” |
means the relevant parts of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003; |
“personal data” |
means any and all data that relates to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from that data. In this case, it means personal data that you give to Us via Our Site. This definition shall, where applicable, incorporate the definitions provided in the EU Regulation 2016/679 – the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”); and |
“We/Us/Our” |
Means Property118 Ltd , a limited company registered in England under company number 10295964, whose registered address is 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB. |
- Information About Us
- Our Site is owned and operated by Property118 Ltd, a limited company registered in England under company number 10295964, whose registered address is 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB.
- Our VAT number is 990 0332 34.
- Our Data Protection Officer is Neil Patterson, and can be contacted by email at npatterson@property118.com, by telephone on 01603 489118, or by post at 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB.
- What Does This Policy Cover?
This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of Our Site. Our Site may contain links to other websites. Please note that We have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites and We advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.
- Your Rights
- As a data subject, you have the following rights under the GDPR, which this Policy and Our use of personal data have been designed to uphold:
- The right to be informed about Our collection and use of personal data;
- The right of access to the personal data We hold about you (see section 12);
- The right to rectification if any personal data We hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete (please contact Us using the details in section 14);
- The right to be forgotten – i.e. the right to ask Us to delete any personal data We hold about you (We only hold your personal data for a limited time, as explained in section 6 but if you would like Us to delete it sooner, please contact Us using the details in section 14);
- The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data;
- The right to data portability (obtaining a copy of your personal data to re-use with another service or organisation);
- The right to object to Us using your personal data for particular purposes; and
- If you have any cause for complaint about Our use of your personal data, please contact Us using the details provided in section 14 and We will do Our best to solve the problem for you. If We are unable to help, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
- For further information about your rights, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office or your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
- What Data Do We Collect?
Depending upon your use of Our Site, We may collect some or all of the following personal data (please also see section 13 on Our use of Cookies and similar technologies):
- Name;
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- Number of properties owned;
- Accountants details;
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- Proof of residence and ID;
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- Landlords insurance renewal dates;
- Property Portfolio details such as value and mortgage outstanding;
- How Do We Use Your Data?
- All personal data is processed and stored securely, for no longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. We will comply with Our obligations and safeguard your rights under the GDPR at all times. For more details on security see section 7, below.
- Our use of your personal data will always have a lawful basis, either because it is necessary for our performance of a contract with you, because you have consented to our use of your personal data (e.g. by subscribing to emails), or because it is in our legitimate interests. Specifically, we may use your data for the following purposes:
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- Personalising and tailoring our products and or services for you;
- Replying to emails from you;
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- Provide information to our partner service and product suppliers at your request.
- With your permission and/or where permitted by law, We may also use your data for marketing purposes which may include contacting you by email and or telephone with information, news and offers on our products and or We will not, however, send you any unsolicited marketing or spam and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that We fully protect your rights and comply with Our obligations under the GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
- You have the right to withdraw your consent to us using your personal data at any time, and to request that we delete it.
- We do not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. Data will therefore be retained for the following periods (or its retention will be determined on the following bases):
- Member profile information is collected with your consent and can be amended or deleted at any time by you;
- Anti-Money Laundering information and tax consultancy records are to be kept as required by law for up to seven years.
- How and Where Do We Store Your Data?
- We only keep your personal data for as long as We need to in order to use it as described above in section 6, and/or for as long as We have your permission to keep it.
- Some or all of your data may be stored outside of the European Economic Area (“the EEA”) (The EEA consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). You are deemed to accept and agree to this by using our site and submitting information to Us. If we do store data outside the EEA, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the GDPR
- Data security is very important to Us, and to protect your data We have taken suitable measures to safeguard and secure data collected through Our Site.
- Do We Share Your Data?
- We may share your data with other partner companies in for the purpose of supplying products or services you have requested.
- We may sometimes contract with third parties to supply products and services to you on Our behalf. Where any of your data is required for such a purpose, We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data will be handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, Our obligations, and the obligations of the third party under the law.
- We may compile statistics about the use of Our Site including data on traffic, usage patterns, user numbers, sales, and other information. All such data will be anonymised and will not include any personally identifying data, or any anonymised data that can be combined with other data and used to identify you. We may from time to time share such data with third parties such as prospective investors, affiliates, partners, and advertisers. Data will only be shared and used within the bounds of the law.
- In certain circumstances, We may be legally required to share certain data held by Us, which may include your personal data, for example, where We are involved in legal proceedings, where We are complying with legal requirements, a court order, or a governmental authority.
- What Happens If Our Business Changes Hands?
- We may, from time to time, expand or reduce Our business and this may involve the sale and/or the transfer of control of all or part of Our business. Any personal data that you have provided will, where it is relevant to any part of Our business that is being transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Privacy Policy, be permitted to use that data only for the same purposes for which it was originally collected by Us.
- How Can You Control Your Data?
- In addition to your rights under the GDPR, set out in section 4, we aim to give you strong controls on Our use of your data for direct marketing purposes including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from Us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in Our emails.
- Your Right to Withhold Information
- You may access certain areas of Our Site without providing any data at all. However, to use all features and functions available on Our Site you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data.
- You may restrict Our use of Cookies. For more information, see section 13.
- How Can You Access Your Data?
You have the right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by Us (where such data is held). Under the GDPR, no fee is payable and We will provide any and all information in response to your request free of charge. Please contact Us for more details at info@property118.com, or using the contact details below in section 14.
- Our Use of Cookies
- Our Site may place and access certain first party Cookies on your computer or device. First party Cookies are those placed directly by Us and are used only by Us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of Our Site and to provide and improve Our products AND/OR We have carefully chosen these Cookies and have taken steps to ensure that your privacy and personal data is protected and respected at all times.
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- Certain features of Our Site depend on Cookies to function. Cookie Law deems these Cookies to be “strictly necessary”. These Cookies are shown below in section 13.5. Your consent will not be sought to place these Cookies, but it is still important that you are aware of them. You may still block these Cookies by changing your internet browser’s settings as detailed below in section 13.9, but please be aware that Our Site may not work properly if you do so. We have taken great care to ensure that your privacy is not at risk by allowing them.
- The following first party Cookies may be placed on your computer or device:
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First |
Facebook |
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- In addition to the controls that We provide, you can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also enable you to choose whether you wish to disable all cookies or only third party cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device.
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- Contacting Us
If you have any questions about Our Site or this Privacy Policy, please contact Us by email at info@property118.com, by telephone on 01603 489118, or by post at 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB. Please ensure that your query is clear, particularly if it is a request for information about the data We hold about you (as under section 12, above).
- Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time (for example, if the law changes). Any changes will be immediately posted on Our Site and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy on your first use of Our Site following the alterations. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up-to-date.
Dennis Silverman
6:08 AM, 15th August 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Chris Amis" at "14/08/2015 - 21:34":
You need at least 50% of the leaseholders wanting to enfranchise,i.e. buy the freefhold. At around £30k cost per flat i would very lucky to find even 4 or 5 willing to stump up or borrow that kind of sum.
I had thought about waiting for the law to change but the real problem will only occur in about 20 years times when these ground rents will be £2000+. I don't expect any real political pressure until then, and it will still rely on the government of the day being persistent in pushing through new legislation, with much opposition from pension funds and the like that originally bought these freeholds.
In 20 years time, if I am still here, I will be aged 91. I can cope with the hassle now but not then. In 20 years time if no legislation has happenned then the cost of a lease extension starting from a base ground rent figure of £2000 p.a. will be absolutely astronomic.
BigMc
9:57 AM, 16th August 2015, About 9 years ago
Hi again Dennis,
If, as it sounds, you are serious about this you need to get professional help in order that you can start to properly evaluate your options. As a first stage you have to know the likely cost of buying the freehold. There are many companies who will calculate this for you for very little cost. Also it is not necessary for at least 50% of the leaseholders to stomp up money only for at least 50% to be in favour of the purchase which is a very different thing. So I can see 4 simple steps to address your situation:-
1) Do I have the will to make the freehold purchase
2) Get a professional valuation
3) Plan strategy to persuade 50% to support the initiative
4) Decide on freehold vehicle; you will probably be best to set up a company to hold the freehold comprising all those who buy a share.
5) Determine funding source. You may find a number of leaseholders will buy multiple shares. Remember your new "company" will receive the ground rent income from the remaining leaseholders.
It is all doable and I have completed the purchase on a number of our properties as I'm sure many on this site have but it does involve hard work and determination.
Good Luck, Mike
Dennis Silverman
18:31 PM, 16th August 2015, About 9 years ago
Thanks for you advice, I do agree that the cost of buying the freehold will only cost slightly more than a lease extension. However if I go for the lease extension i will end up with a 240 year lease with 230+ years to run at nil ground rent. There are actually 46 apartments in the block and I don't want to be the sole freeholder collecting ground rents fron the others. I have had good advice from two experienced valuers. One advises me to approach the freeholder straight away to see if I can do a deal. I have written direct to the freeholder and am waiting for a reply. I am hoping I might get a positive reply. The freeholder is one of the 300+ companies owned by the Tchenguiz Family Trust. In February 2015 Vincent Tchenguiz missed a deadline to repay £430 millions of debt to Prudential, Bank of America and others. A few thousand from me now rather than in 18 months time may be helpful. Google Tchenguiz for lots of interesting threads.
Eddie Fraser
12:51 PM, 24th December 2016, About 7 years ago
Hi all - I hope you don't mind me resurrecting this topic as the subject seems to be becoming more popular due to recent reports in the press (mainly the Guardian and BBC R4).
Like the OP from 2015 I own a Taylor Wimpy Apartment which was bought as an investment (it is currently rented out) and I have the same 'onerous' ground rent doubling clause in the lease. This was not flagged as issue by my solicitor when I bought it in 2011. A familiar story, so it seems, and it was only the recent press coverage which prompted me to examine my lease in detail.
This is causing me to think again about my original plan to hold on to this investment long term.
If the OP is still on the forums, do you mind me asking what you decided to do in the end?
Rgds.
H
18:50 PM, 26th December 2016, About 7 years ago
Hi Eddie
I also bought my flat in 2011 as well starting at £250 and doubling every 10 years . I have just only recently started looking at my options again having also read the Guardian articles. I am currently looking into lodging a professional negligence claim regarding the onerous ground rent clause. I have not investigated further how much it would be to extend the lease but I think it would be too expensive.
Do you mind me asking what development you invested in ? And have you looked into how much it would be to extend the lease using the Statutory procedure.
H B
16:47 PM, 28th December 2016, About 7 years ago
The ground rent for the last 10 years of the lease will be £4,096,000 p/a.
The entire ground rent receivable unset the life of the lease is £81,917,500.
This may impact the property's value in the future.
Eddie Fraser
17:10 PM, 28th December 2016, About 7 years ago
Hamish - thanks for your response. It's early days having only just found out I was one of the TW buyers who had this unfortunate clause in my lease. Very much in fact finding mode at the moment with no decisions or actions having been made/done. I don't feel comfortable talking specifics, such as the actual development, at this stage but I am happy to keep the forum informed if I find any more useful information about this whole issue.
HB - I can only speak for myself (but many of the previous posts do to say this too), the lease in question does double the GR (from £250) every 10 years, BUT only for the first 5 of the 10 year anniversaries. So once it reaches £8K per year (in my case in 2060) it stays fixed at that amount. This is very similar to the details written by the original creator of this topic. The fact that even this, admittedly less extreme, version of the lease clause originally created by TW may well impact on future value is exactly what we are talking through possible solutions for.
H B
21:49 PM, 28th December 2016, About 7 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Eddie Fraser" at "28/12/2016 - 17:10":
Ah. Thank you for pointing this out. I had misunderstood this point.
It is still a lot of money as that £8000 will presumably be for the remainder of the lease - so £800,000.
One option might be too sell up and hope that the buyer does not notice.
I also think that the solicitor has some kind of liability for this. Some have already started action against their solicitors:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/19/new-build-ground-rent-scandal-legal-battles-solicitors-negligence
Eddie Fraser
9:51 AM, 26th January 2017, About 7 years ago
Just to keep this topic alive....
As one of 2 or 3 people in this topic who actually own a TW recent build, investment, property who have (after being alerted by the press) discovered that the ground rent doubles every 10 years for the first 5 of the 10 year anniversaries -- and who were not warned off by their (often TW recommended) solicitors of this "hidden" clause (see my previous comments, the OP's comments and Hamish's comments for full details), I can see the following options:
(please note these are just my own personal views)
1) Keep the property as planned long term and hope for a change in the law which will effectively cap onerous ground rents. I gather the the Govt. is meeting again soon to talk options according to this recent telegraph article.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/new-build-property-trap-could-stop-selling-home/
The risk here is nothing will actually happen to benefit the people who have these leases now. Unravelling this could take a long time.
Looking at my lease in detail, around the doubling clause , there is also another clause stating that upon a change in legislation the lease allows it's owner to take ground rent up to £1 less than maximum allowed by any new law. So a new cap on max. ground rent allowed could be the best outcome.
2) Sell the property now or soon (e.g. when the current tenancy expires - assuming it is rented out), in the hope that whilst the ground rent is still in the hundreds, not thousands, for at least another 10 or 15 years, it will mean it is still a sellable property..... but be prepared to take a hit on the asking price. The new owners may benefit from a change in the law later on down the line as well as potentially buying the property for a discounted price.
The risk here is the property may not sell at all or will only receive very low offers and this may result in an extended period of lost rent - assuming trying to sell without a tenant in-situ.
3) Go after our conveyancing solicitors for professional negligence as they didn't highlight the issue to us at the time of buying.
Here there is, of course a risk of not winning any claim. This is also a bit of a grey area - I have not seen any details on cases brought against solicitors, the amounts awarded and so on. Also I gather there is a time limit of 6 years after which this cannot be pursued and also, to date, no actual financial loss has taken place.
4) Attempt to extend the lease (statutory after 2 years of ownership) thus reducing the ground rent to peppercorn.
Again, this has risks. For one thing, most of these companies will charge you >£100 for the initial enquiry. Also evidence seems to show they will ask for an very large amount taking into consideration the potential value, to them, of the lease they were sold from TW.
5) Finally one other option which occurred to me is that as TW seem (in communications made public so far) to say that these leases are actually not a problem and were, at the time, a well thought out standard lease, I wonder what they would say if you attempted to part exchange the property on a another TW new-build - as they no longer have these leases anymore. This would only work if you looking at investing in a larger or more valuable property anyway, but surely they couldn't refuse because of a lease they actually designed? Or could they?
So to summarise the way I see things, there are no simple answers. Whatever route taken has risks. I'd really like to see some real cases of people in the same situation and what they did.
Thanks everyone for your time reading this...
Dennis Forrest
18:19 PM, 24th July 2017, About 7 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Eddie Fraser" at "26/01/2017 - 09:51":
I am the original poster on this thread about 2 years ago. I have recently served a Section 42 notice on the Landlord for a Statutory 90 year lease extension and a peppercorn rate. Although I have instructed a solicitor I have not appointed a valuer and will be doing my own valuations and negotiations. Because very few transactions will have been completed - mine still has 140 years to run - I will be comparing the premium asked by the the valuer with similar premiums asked on the Allsop website which auctions leases. I will be arguing that leases that double every 10 years are poor investments for two reasons -
1. Risk of default by the tenant paying ground rent on unaffordability grounds.
2. Political risk that a future government might soften the terms of lease to just doubling every 20 years or changing the terms to index linked.
I will be arguing that an investor would be better of financially buying say 4 leases which double every 25 years than just one like mine which doubles every 10 years.
I will be arguing that this theoretically astute investor will want a much higher yield on his investment to justify the increased risk. A higher yield means a lower purchase price which in turn for me is hopefully a lower premium. I will take this to First Tier Tribunal if landlord's valuer is uncooperative. I know the procedure and have already sat in on one tribunal hearing.
I am also pursuing a negligence claim against the solicitor through whom I bought the property through. The solicitor admits that nowadays he always points out very adverse lease conditions.