MY Homes Under The Hammer experience turned into a nightmare after I received a court summons for a £10.5k council tax bill that I refused to pay.
Property developer, Maxine Fothergill decided to buy two derelict flats but she was unaware of the future battle she would have with the local council.
Maxine’s renovation journey features in an upcoming episode of Homes Under The Hammer set to air shortly.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, she said: “The flats were a wreck but the auctioneer said to me this is right up your street, if anyone can do it you can.
“He kind of set me the challenge and I couldn’t resist – So I bought the two flats and the freehold.”
Homes Under The Hammer‘s Clive Emson then asked her if she’d be interested in getting the renovation featured on the property show.
Maxine, Managing Director and founder of Amax Estates explained: “I’ve known him for years and I agreed because these two flats are typical of many leasehold flats with absentee freeholders who do not maintain them.”
House of Horrors
However, when she and her husband first entered the flats they didn’t expect a scene from a Hammer of House of Horrors film.
“Extensive work needed to be done on the flats as they had been empty for years.
“They were full of rubbish including eerily weird dolls that seemed to stare at you and huge black cobwebs everywhere.
“It was like something from the Hammer House of Horror – like somebody had literally got up, walked off.
“There was still tea bags and all their clothes, but they’d been empty for years and years and years.”
“The middle bedroom was quite odd. It didn’t have a window but it had a curtain and it felt like somebody was in there like somebody had died in there or something.
“So my husband looked at me and we jokingly bickered about who would open the curtain.
“I just pulled it quick and we both jumped back because there was a bed and it had like a big sort of like depression on the on the pillow.
“Like, like somebody had sort of like, just been lying there, it was very bizarre and pretty horrible.”
Renovation Nightmares
“The local authority and the fire brigade were just about to close the block down because it was so non compliant even the electrics were dangerous.
“There was fly tipping galore and the garden was littered with sofas and other people’s rubbish – it was a horrendous mess!
“I also had two illegal extensions on the back of our two flats which we had to take down.
“The common areas of the block of flats were in disrepair and no money had been spent on the building for thirty years.
“However, it was a struggle to get the other leaseholders to contribute money for repairs because they were higher up.
“The roof of the flats, which was a walkway, was very leaky and had totally flooded the inside of the flats.
“I had to remove everything and strip them all back to the bare walls.”
But worse was yet to come for Maxine!
Court Summons for refusal to pay
“The local council Medway in Kent demanded that I pay outstanding council tax on the two flats which amounted to 10.5k.
“The council argued that even though I had only owned the properties for less than a year, as the owner I was nevertheless liable to pay all of the outstanding amount of council tax.
“I disagreed with this, arguing that the flats had been derelict before I renovated them. (The government exempts derelict properties from council tax.) I appealed, but the council reviewed my case and rejected it.”
Maxine added: “The council is cash-strapped and they told me that because the two flats had been vacant for more than two years prior – it would apply an empty home tax premium.
“The liability racked up by the previous owner lay with me” she explained.
Maxine found this stressful and unfair and was on a tight budget – she couldn’t magic the money required from thin air.
“I appealed to the government’s Valuation Office Agency (VOA) on the grounds that the flats had been derelict.
“However, they also rejected my appeal even though they weren’t liveable, so I appealed again against that decision. “
But as Maxine waited for the decision of her latest appeal she was summoned to magistrate’s court for non-payment of the outstanding council tax.
However, when the magistrate’s court learned that she was in the process of appealing again, the court case was postponed.
But Maxine now knew that the pressure was on to win the final appeal.
“If I lost that, I would be back in court and would have to pay both the council tax and the court costs.”
“At the appeal, conducted over Zoom, I presented evidence including a letter from my building surveyor that said the flats were derelict.
However, their solicitor argued that the definition of derelict was that the building lacked a roof.
“I said that the walkway roof was so leaky it was almost the same as the flats not having a roof.
“However, this seemed unpersuasive but then I also argued that under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, the flats were dangerous because they showed evidence of structural collapse.
This argument worked and Maxine’s appeal was granted, meaning she wouldn’t have to pay the outstanding debt.
Nice return on her investment
The flats were eventually renovated and now look spanking brand new which viewers will be able to see on the show when it airs.
The pair originally cost around £150,000, plus the renovation costs, but are now worth around £330,000, which Maxine said: “Is a nice return on the investment.
“But my intention was always to rent them out as buy-to-lets and I already have a tenant ready to move into one of them.”
The property developer also revealed that she thoroughly enjoyed her experience on Homes under the Hammer and said: “All the presenters and the team were completely lovely.”
The Sun contacted Medway Council for commentary but they replied: “We wouldn’t comment on an individual case” but did supply information to assist with reporting.
Homes Under The Hammer airs on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.
