Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market – GOV.UK
Seeks views on prohibiting the sale of new build leasehold houses, limiting ground rents and protecting leaseholders from possession orders.
Related posts:
LKP guidance for responding to the government consultation on tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market
Responses to the government consultation
Countdown to take part in Sajid Javid’s consultation
Government to ‘take forward’ CMA leasehold report, but rejects making right to manage easier
Government’s slightly wobbly response to the excellent report of the Communities Select Committee
Will Astor ‘tried to nobble reform of ground rents’, Daily Mail claims
You cannot argue with the sentiment and determination expressed.
Those responses via email, like what I did, do not appear in the appendices stats. But the responses overwhelmingly sure look a lot more definitive than those to the 1998 consultation.
I might become more optimistic. But I will await actual implementation and look out for any capitalised clauses in legislation that affords landlords the right to think of new ways to make a profit as in past law!
It is all down to LKP and the APPG and the NLC and a few others. I suspect the industry will take credit for always wanting reform.
Good start. Long way to go.
Astonishing that in 2017, we can still have leases posing as ‘sales’ on every misstate agent’s website. New leases for more than 21 years were banned in Scotland back in 1974.
Astonishing also that abuses by Local Authorities keep on being overlooked – abuses of rental tenants and leaseholders alike. Ridiculous to consider that they might enjoy more exemptions. Please NO!!!
DCLG response 21 Dec 2017:
“Para 69. Costs incurred by landlords for overseeing and appointing a managing agent can be recovered through the service charge.”
This would be an interesting brand new ‘admin fee’ service charge on top of the existing managing agent fees?
What might the average freeholder in this innovative exploitative arena in future consider to be their annual cost for ‘overseeing’ managing agents?
Lost ground rent = new admin fee?
I yield to none in my cynicism about the Conservative party and its links with large freeholders who give it large sums of money in donations — in return for nothing at all (hah hah) — but there are clear signs of coffee having been smelled here.
One figure caused some amusement: the 52 entitled respondents who felt that the govt should do nothing at all because that would be state interference (in private property).
What kind of moron does not realise that private property exists with, and only with, social consent?
Very clearly, social consent for continuation of the abuses of leasehold to continue does not exist. Even the Conservatives now realise it. The alternative will be pitchforks and confiscation if they wait long enough. .
Labour OWNS the creation of the NHS. The Conservatives could (and should) OWN the idea that an “Englishman’s home is his castle”. Mrs Thatcher said there was no prouder word in British history than “freeholder”, which she did not mean as “landlord”. Suddenly, the party is making the right noises.
Is it possible that common decency will win out over corruption?
I remain skeptical. In the meantime big thanks to LKP and its supporters who have been wafting coffee fumes in the right direction, clearly.
This article in The Guardian, featuring money laundering in the UK and the corruption in London property is worth a look.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/03/mcmafia-tv-bbc-russian-organised-crime-uk