Plans by the Law Commission to make the process of buying or extending leaseholds easier, quicker and cheaper have been welcomed.
The proposals have been made as part of a government-commissioned review to strengthen the rights of leaseholders seeking to buy their freehold or extend their lease.
Leaseholds have made the headlines recently following anger over the leases for new-build homes being sold off by developers – which has left some householders with ground
rents doubling every ten years.
Nick Hopkins, law commissioner and a professor of law at Reading University, said: “The current system is complex, slow and expensive and it’s failing homeowners. Many feel that they are having to pay twice to own their home.”
Leaseholders, who are currently able to extend their lease just once, will be able to do so multiple times under the new proposals.
Procedures for dealing with missing landlords would also be brought in, and limits imposed on the objections landlords can make to the validity of leaseholders’ claims.
There are an estimated 4.2million leasehold properties in England – 18 per cent of the housing stock. Nearly all flats are owned as leaseholds, since the arrangement eases the management of blocks of flats.
The proposals will:
Make the process (known as “enfranchisement”) easier, cheaper and quicker
Improve and enhance the rights of leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease
Introduce a simpler unified procedure for houses and flats
Remove limitations on the right to enfranchise, including the requirement that leaseholders must have owned their property for two years before making a claim
Mark Chick, director of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP), welcomed the opportunity for sector-wide reform and clarification as set out in the
Law Commission’s paper. He said: “Leasehold enfranchisement has been in the spotlight now for many months, and with the furore surrounding this issue it is crucial that leaseholders are well informed and educated.”
The Law Commission is inviting views on its proposals until November 20.
