A WINSFORD resident is warning house buyers to beware after he paid a ‘ludicrous’ amount of money for his freehold.

John Ruddy, 73, bought his house from Morris Homes in November 2014, but decided against buying the freehold because it was an extra £6,000.

Instead, he paid £300 a year ground rent as part of the leasehold agreement.

Adriatic Land 3, managed by HomeGround Management Ltd, then bought the freehold from Morris Homes.

John was informed but it didn’t require his approval.

Problems arose when John decided to build a conservatory for which he needed permission from the HomeGround Management, who would not approve it without relevant documentation.

John, a retired police officer, said: “I was offered the freehold for £6,000 when I first bought the house, I decided against it.

“When I was first informed of it being sold on, I wasn’t sure about it but I didn’t think it would be too much of a problem.

“But the administration fees involved just to build a conservatory became too much, and we decided it was best to buy it from Adriatic.

“When I came round to buy it 18 months later, the cost had more than doubled to £16,000, which is ludicrous, but I bit the bullet in the end.

“This all came about because I realised how little I could do with the house without the freeholder’s permission.”

John is now worried about the problems that buying leasehold homes could have on first time buyers, who may be unaware of the potential implications.

He added: “This is a national problem.

“The majority of first time buyers won’t be in the position to buy their freehold.

“They’ll see it as another cost and won’t do it, but they don’t understand the consequences of that and will struggle to make any changes to their home without permission of the freeholder.

“It’s just makes me think of a medieval lord of the manor type situation and somebody is making a lot of money out of this.”

HomeGround Management Ltd were contacted but were unavailable for comment.