Tenants on Price Charles’ private estate are not allowed to buy property under laws’ vetted by the heir to the throne ‘
- The Duchy of Cornwall is a £ 1 billion portfolio of land, property and investment
- It is exempt from property laws that give families the right to buy homes directly
- Waivers were passed after Charles got sight of the bill, claims reports
- Duchy of Cornwall rejected the suggestion that Charles was influencing the legislation
Tenants on Prince Charles’ private estate are prohibited from buying their own home by laws’ approved by the heir to the throne ‘.
Parts of the Duchy of Cornwall – a £ 1 billion portfolio of property and investment – are exempt from two property laws that give families the right to buy their home directly.
Records show that the exemptions were approved after Charles saw the legislation beforehand under obscure parliamentary procedure, The Guardian reported.
The exemptions mean that residents live in houses that are difficult to sell because the lease expires and against which they have difficulty borrowing.
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales meets residents at The Guinness Partnership’s 250th affordable home in Poundbury on 8 May 2015 in Dorchester, Dorset
Retired oil director Alan Davis (pictured), a tenant in the Isles of Scilly, part of the Duchy of Cornwall, told the newspaper he could not own the bungalow he bought in 1984.
But a spokesman for the Duchy of Cornwall said: “Any allegation that the Prince of Wales has blocked or unnecessarily influenced the legislation is false.”
Retired oil director Alan Davis, a tenant in the Isles of Scilly, part of the Duchy of Cornwall, told the newspaper he could not own the bungalow he had bought in 1984.
He has been affected by an exemption in the Leasehold, Housing and Urban Development Act of 1993, which excludes Dartmoor, much of which is owned by the Duchy, and the Isles of Scilly.
With less than 65 years to go on his lease, he is concerned about the future value of his home and tells The Guardian, ‘The problem arises when you want to sell it. If the lease is only about thirty years, people will just shy away from it. ‘
He added that it was “absolute nonsense” that he and other residents couldn’t just buy their homes from the duchy.
Another tenant Jane Giddins has lived in one of the Prince’s houses in the Somerset village of Newton St Loe since 1996.
She said she and her husband had “put a lot of money and love into renovating it,” but that when they die, “our children will be left with a property that is very difficult to sell.
Mrs. Giddins told the newspaper, “The question is, why should the crown be allowed to have a feudal system just because they want to?”
The Oval cricket ground and Dartmoor Prison are just some of the properties owned by the Duchy of Cornwall estate.
Founded in 1337 by Edward III for his son Edward, the Black Prince, the Duchy’s main purpose was to provide an income, independent of the monarch, for the heir apparent.
The Guardian also said the documents showed that Charles, who holds the title of Duke of Cornwall, had also vetted the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act of 2002, which contained exceptions in favor of the Duchy.
The Isles of Scilly, part of the Duchy of Cornwall
A spokesman for the Duchy of Cornwall said: “ It has been a long-standing convention that the Prince, as Duke of Cornwall, is being asked by Parliament to approve the bills that Parliament has decided will affect the interests of the Duchy of Cornwall would affect.
“If authorization is required, draft legislation will, by convention, be submitted to the Prince of Wales for disclosure only upon the advice of ministers.”
The spokesman added: ‘Neither the Duke of Cornwall nor the Duchy of Cornwall Council are involved in the drafting of legislation pertaining (to) any part of the leasehold reform, including the exemption of housing.
“The Duchy, however, takes great care that anyone buying property owned by the Duchy is fully informed of the restrictions that may apply to their property as a result of the law.”