Thousands of home owners who have bought their home through the Right to Buy scheme could be entitled to compensation due to inappropriate advice given at the time they bought their home.
The Right to Buy scheme was introduced in the 1980s to help tenants who had lived in their council-owned property for five years or more to buy their home at a discounted rate. Invariably, intermediaries got involved in the scheme and this is where mis-selling could take place.
Leading law firm, Stephensons Solicitors LLP, is receiving an increasing number of enquiries from people who bought their home via Right to Buy with the help of a broker who took a fee for their advice. People were then referred to solicitors, some of whom appear to have paid hidden referral fees to the brokers or have not carried out the proper conveyancing checks during the purchase.
Andrew Leakey, partner and head of the dispute resolution department at Stephensons Solicitors LLP, said: “People concerned about the way in which they bought their homes are contacting us in increasing numbers. The typical situation is that clients were cold-called at their homes by a broker, who often took a very large fee for what was straight forward advice which was readily available for free elsewhere.
“Some of the mortgage deals people were signed up to may not have been the most appropriate for them, for example, they may not have had been properly advised on how changes in interest rates could affect the repayments or even taken into account the ability to repay the mortgage.
“A law firm which was handling claims of this nature - Bracewell Law also known as Rohrer - has been closed down and as such there may be many home owners left wondering if they have a claim or what is now going to happen to their case. We can help people in this situation.”
Stephensons has a leading consumer rights team which specialises in challenging unenforceable agreements, unfair relationships and professional negligence and has experience in co-ordinating multi-party actions in this field. If you need help or advice please contact Stephensons on 01616 966 229.