Alarm as freehold firm installs 'For Sale' signs at Sheffield homes
‘For Sale’ boards have appeared outside homes
Alarmed Sheffield householders have received letters warning ‘For Sale’ boards are to be installed at their properties.
Scores of people have received ‘sale of freehold’ letters giving a date from when a contractor will attend, with a warning not to “remove, cover, damage or other interfere with the board until the property is sold”.
The letters are from Tixerbon Ltd, which tells householders that it is the freeholder of the “property you occupy” and planning to sell the freehold.
It adds that no internal entry to any of the homes is planned “at this time”.
Letters appear to have been delivered to homes across Sheffield.
Residents contacted by Tixerbon own a property for a fixed amount of time - typically 99, 125, or 999 years - leasing it from a landlord (Tixerbon), who owns the land it’s built on.
It may then be acquired by the householder, or another person, or business.
One person writing on a Fulwood Facebook group said they had contacted the firm and been asked for £3,500.
Others reported elderly relatives being scared and worried.
One said: “Tixerbon absolutely makes my blood boil. They keep sending letters to my 90-year-old grandad using similar scare tactics.”
Another criticised it as “aggressive marketing”.
Sheffield MP Abtisam Mohamed said constituents had contacted her about Tixerbon and another real estate firm, Watt and Sorenson, claiming they were both “continuing to pressure leaseholders”.
She said she had reported the companies to Trading Standards, South Yorkshire Police, the Leasehold Advisory Service and Sheffield city councillors.
She has also written to housing minister Matthew Pennycook asking for “urgent assistance” on protections for leaseholders.
Her letter states Watt and Sorenson and Tixerbon appear to be under common ownership and she had contacted Watt and Sorenson asking bosses to set out the legal basis for their actions.
She wrote: “The response quoted several paragraphs of a lease agreement and asserted that the company's actions were lawful, but provided no further explanation and even gave an incredibly misleading interpretation of the law.
“To quote, ‘we trust that this will assist you in understanding why our disclosure request is lawful and why the advice you have given to the leaseholders - to delay their response - is unfortunately without legal foundation’.
“Affected residents have since checked their own leases and found no provision permitting inspections of this kind. I advised residents to review their leases and to seek independent legal advice while I pursued further clarification.”
She added: “The companies have nonetheless continued to write to residents, to place 'For Sale' boards outside their homes and, in some cases, to list properties for sale on Rightmove without the owners' consent.
“One constituent received a notice stating that a 'For Sale' board would be installed at their property and that they would be notified separately of an internal inspection on not less than 24 hours' notice.”
Watt and Sorenson and Tixerbon were approached for comment.
Temporary Det Supt Tom Bright, of South Yorkshire Police, said the force’s economic crime team had reviewed the information provided by constituents and Sheffield MP Abtisam Mohamed in relation to Watt & Sorenson Ltd and Tixerbon Ltd to ascertain whether any criminal offences had been committed, “with particular consideration given to whether blackmail, fraud or harassment offences had taken place.”
He added: "Following analysis of the information provided, while we recognised and understood the significant stress this had caused residents, based on the materials available to us we were unable to identify any evidence which met the threshold to open a criminal investigation.”