Furious householders in Sandymoor are seeing red after their ground rents rocketed, with one facing a hike of 65 per cent in her annual bill.

Residents who bought their homes in the first two phases of Morris Homes’ Sandymoor development are classed as leaseholders, which means they do not own their land and must pay ground rent to a property firm.

The Government has banned ground rents on new leases but so far the legislation does not cover existing leaseholders.

Weaver Vale Labour MP Mike Amesbury, who is pushing for total abolition of leasehold, met affected constituents at the estate and said he will lobby on their behalf.

Bev Dinsdale, who moved into her Wharford Lane house in May 2019, had been paying £350 ground rent per year but now faces a 51 per cent increase.

She said: "I paid the £350 requested. But on 15th February I received a further demand for £180. This is outrageous."

Terry Roberts, of Potton Close, has faced a similar rise. He said: "We paid the £300 for the year and then got a notification saying ‘sorry, it’s gone up to £450, we want another £150’ so it’s gone up by 50 per cent!

"It’s money for nothing."

Dawn Melia, of Magna Park, has been met with a 65 per cent hike in her annual ground rent from £320 to £530.

She said: "Like everyone else, I didn’t realise it was a leasehold house until it came to completion. I feel like an absolute mug and it annoys me because I’m not stupid. I read everything."

Dawn is considering buying the freehold to own her property outright but the asking price has risen from £3,000 after completion to about £13,500 now.

Andy Dyer, from Tempsford Close, who is also looking to purchase his freehold, said some people have struggled to sell their properties because of the ‘overly burdensome’ lease conditions.

He said: “Technically you need to ask their permission if want to paint your front door anything other than black and pay their admin fees for considering it. If you’re doing any kind of construction, even if you don’t need planning permission, you still need to submit the plans for them to approve and again they will charge you all the admin fees.”

Mr Amesbury, who is also shadow minister for building safety and homelessness, promised to raise his constituents’ concerns in parliament and directly with Secretary of State Michael Gove.

He said: “The second stage of leasehold and freehold reforms are travelling slowly through Parliament. But as the Government implodes with the latest Tory leadership drama, I suspect it will be left to a new government to pick up the baton and legislate this feudal rip-off called leasehold into history.”

Mr Amesbury’s team said there are two firms charging ground rents on the estate - Innovus and Compton Group. Morris Homes said it no longer had any legal interest in the development and that it would be 'inappropriate to comment further'.

A spokesman for Gracefavour Limited, a Compton Group company, said: “We have increased the ground rent strictly in accordance with the terms of the lease.

"In fact, we are not permitted to increase the ground rent except in accordance with the terms of the lease. The leaseholders should have been advised of the terms of the lease - including the ground rent provisions - by the solicitors or conveyancers acting on their behalf at the time they bought the property."

He added: "Also, it is not true to say that ground rent is for nothing. If the leaseholders had not agreed to pay ground, they would have had to pay a larger premium instead at the time they bought the property."

An Innovus spokesman, said: “We are sorry to hear that some residents have been surprised by the recent ground rent increases.

"The ground rent provisions, including the frequency and basis for increases, are set out in the house owners’ leases.

"Under the leases, which were granted by Morris Homes, the ground rent is to be reviewed every 10 years and is to be increased in line with the Retail Prices Index.

"While leaseholders will have been made aware of these reviews at the time of purchasing their property, we appreciate that no increase is ever welcome, and we can offer residents support where possible."