The home of Ormsby (Freehold) Ltd  

As was the case across most of the suburban areas of London, fairly rapid residential development followed the expansion of the railway network. By the end of the 19th century, Grange Road was established as quite a grand residential thoroughfare of substantial detached houses with large gardens.

To the south of Grange Road, beyond what is now Camborne Road, there was little other than agricultural land (famous for lavender growing) until one reached the small country hamlet of Belmont. Stanley Road was little more than a dirt track leading up to the railway bridge, past a covered reservoir and on to Brighton Road, which was also lined with detached homes.

On the land now occupied by Ormsby (21, 23 and 25 Grange Road) there were three Victorian villas built in the early 1880’s - “Cardington”, “Ormseby House” and “Teignmouth” respectively. The title deeds for these properties include some unusual covenants. For example, the grounds could not be used for the purposes of selling tea or making bricks! Ormsby (Freehold) Ltd is still subject to these covenants today.

In the years following the end of World War II, the country faced a massive housing shortage and saw a huge rise in the building of flats particularly in the cities. Cardington, Ormseby House and Teignmouth were bought by developers, Sandgrange, in 1964. The houses were demolished and replaced by a block of substantial, mostly three-bedroomed, flats The name of the block was taken from the former centre house but for reasons unknown the letter “e” was dropped from the name.

Sandgrange let the properties at the end of 1965 on 999 year leases for the princely premium of 6000 guineas and ground rent of £25 a year. The developers retained the freehold and continued to manage the property until the 1980s. At that time a handful of lessees became concerned about the possibility of the freeholder undertaking further developments on the estate and began to investigate the possibility of a residents’ buyout of the freehold.

Under property law as it existed at that time, it was necessary for a private limited company to be established to buy, own and manage the freehold with the 24 individual flat owners at the time taking a 1/24th share in the company for the nominal amount of £4. Ormsby (Freehold) Ltd, as the company became, issued a new 999 year lease to all of its members. The £25 a year ground rent was reduced to “a peppercorn”. Initially much of the running of the company and the estate was handed out to managing agents and the company solicitor (who acted as Company Secretary). Since 2006 both the company and the estate have been managed directly by its Board of Directors who are residents of Ormsby and give their time, energy and expertise on a voluntary basis.