Charles 'acting like feudal baron'

ANGRY Scilly islanders have accused the Prince of Wales of behaving like a feudal baron for exploiting a legal loophole over rights to buy the ground on which their homes are built.

Residents of around 60 houses on the five inhabited islands are considering a legal challenge against the Duchy of Cornwall, the Prince's landed estate which provides his income.

Alan Davis, secretary of the Garrison Leasehold Group on St Mary's, which represents the affected islanders, said the issue was causing a lot of bitterness.

"We just want the same rights available to everyone else.

"But our problem is that the Duchy of Cornwall enjoys some sort of feudal privilege which is not available to any other landlord in the country."

The controversy surrounds properties on the Scillies – those in the 16th-century garrison on St Mary's and a number of homes on the off-islands, excluding Tresco. Residents like Mr Davis are leaseholders, owning the bricks and mortar of their properties, but not the land on which they are built.

They all have a long lease and each year pay a ground rent to the owner of the land, the freeholder, the Duchy of Cornwall.

Under the 2002 Leasehold Reform Act, most leaseholders in Britain were given the right to buy the freehold of their property. However, the Duchy of Cornwall is exempt as it claims to be part of the Crown.

The Garrison Leasehold Group say this is "unjust" and "unfair" as the Duchy of Cornwall is run as a multi-million- pound commercial concern.

"The Duchy owns holiday cottages on the Isles of Scilly. I do not know why the future King of England is messing about with holiday lets," said Mr Davis. I just don't understand why the Duchy will not back away from this."

The leases granted on the properties can be long-term, but a number are running out, making homes virtually worthless.

"Who is going to buy a home with only ten years left to run on the lease?" he said.

Mr Davis bought his home on St Mary's in 1984 with an 80 year plus lease. "I will be long gone by the time the lease runs out, but that is not the point," he said. "This is about having your rights taken away by this sort of feudal privilege."

The Duchy of Cornwall once owned all the land and properties on the Isles of Scilly but most have been sold off.

A Duchy spokeswoman confirmed there was a small number of sites, including the garrison on St Mary's, which belonged to the Duchy of Cornwall estate and were exempt from the Leasehold Reform Act.