Law Commission Proposes Leaseholder Law Changes

The Law Commission is proposing changes to make it quicker and easier for leaseholders to take control of the day-to-day management of their building. Currently, homeowners with long leases over flats can acquire the ‘Right To Manage’ (RTM), which gives the homeowners, rather than their landlord, responsibility for management functions relating to services, repairs, maintenance and insurance. It is a ‘no-fault’ right, so leaseholders can exercise it without having to prove mismanagement by their landlord. However, the current system is seen by many as too technical, slow, restrictive, uncertain and expensive. In response to these criticisms, the Law Commission will be consulting on proposals to make the process more accessible, simpler, quicker and less uncertain. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/law-commission-proposes-leaseholder-law-changes/

Expand 'Commonhold' Ownership System, Government Urged

The rarely used “commonhold” system of home ownership should be expanded as an alternative to landlord-controlled leaseholds which are increasingly resented, the Law Commission is recommending. In a consultation, the government’s official adviser on law reform is calling for commonhold to become widely available because it permits anyone to own a freehold flat without the threat of a time-limited lease expiring. Commonholders become members of a company that owns and manages the shared areas and structure of a building. There is no landlord. The proposal would primarily benefit flat owners, many of whom are young and climbing the first rungs of the property ladder but still have to pay substantial annual ground rents. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/dec/10/plans-expand-commonhold-home-ownership-system-landlords-uk

Leasehold: Reform - Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timetable is for the Law Commission to publish the outcome of its work on leasehold reform. 

James Brokenshire: The final report on enfranchisement is scheduled to be published in June 2019. On commonhold the Law Commission is scheduled to publish a consultation in October 2018 and a final report in June 2019. We expect the Law Commission to consult on the right to manage in November 2018 with a final report scheduled to be published in September 2019.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-07-13/163758

Leasehold Law Set For Radical Reform

Radical new proposals to provide a fairer deal for leasehold homeowners have been announced by the Law Commission. Following hot on the heels of plans by the Government to ban the sale of houses on a leasehold basis, the independent legal body is outlining a range of measures to help existing leasehold homeowners buy the freehold of their houses. These include:

·         options for changing the valuation formula, having been asked by Government to examine how to reduce the price while providing sufficient compensation to landlords

·         making it easier for homeowners to buy the freehold

·         removing the requirement that leaseholders must have owned their house for two years before making a claim

Read more on the Law Commission website.

https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/leasehold-law-set-for-radical-reform/

Public Service Ombudsmen – a Consultation

The Law Commission's consultation makes a series of recommendations about the Housing Ombudsman Service. The consultation runs until 3 December 2010. Download a copy of the consultation paper from the Law Commission’s website.