Dear Sir Peter,
Following the publication of our Reports on enfranchisement, the right to manage, and commonhold in July, I would like to put on record my thanks to the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership (LKP), as secretariat to the APPG on leasehold and commonhold reform, for the constructive engagement they have had with us throughout our work.
As you know, a key term of reference for our projects was “to provide a better deal for leaseholders as consumers”, and it was therefore very important that we heard from leaseholders and understood the leaseholder voice.
The LKP has played a crucial role in enabling us to engage with leaseholders through our work, and has helped to provide an evidence-base for the problems that leaseholders currently encounter.
They have engaged with us at each stage from when we first consulted on leasehold issues for our 13th Programme of Law Reform.
Their assistance to us has included disseminating information about our work, particularly our public consultations, to leaseholders, and encouraging leaseholders to take part in our consultations, hosting and organising consultation events for us to present our provisional proposals, meeting with us to discuss provisional proposals and provide appropriate critical challenge, providing formal consultation responses, raising the profile of our work within the media, and providing briefings to support the launch of our publications.
We mention in our Reports that there is a systemic inequality between landlords and leaseholders, where landlords are generally better able to provide detailed responses to our consultation papers.
Throughout our work, the LKP has helped to maintain balance by providing a strong leaseholder voice to feed into our policy development, helping to ensure that we have the evidence necessary to inform our policy conclusions.
I have greatly appreciated the LKP’s input into our work, and I hope that they will continue to engage with us in any future work that we undertake.
Yours sincerely
Professor Nicholas Hopkins Commissioner
Related posts:
Leaseholders and the sector react to Law Commission reforms to commonhold and right to manage
Law Commission doesn’t expect leasehold reform before 2020
Peter Bottomley MP calls for a debate on leasehold reform
Less ‘legal torture’ and more happiness in leasehold, says Sir Peter Bottomley
Right to Manage added to the ever growing list of leasehold reforms
Government announces ban on new ground rents now, THEN reform leasehold (which is what LKP recommended)
Will leasehold ever be abolished?
I hear the Tory party is split on this issue.
In an earlier post a forum member put this forward to explain why he thought leasehold will not be got rid of.
“Tom Sparkes
December 6, 2020 at 8:29 pm
The problem is that many Aristocracy and landed gentry and members of parliament are landlords/freeholders. They are also the people with the power. They are unlikely to change the feudal freeholder/leaseholder relationship to remove injustice and lack of fairness towards the leaseholder/tenant. Even some Labour MP’s are landlords. A lot of aristocracy got their land ownership through violence going back as far as 1066. I don’t see any beneficial changes to the system any time soon.”
Thanks Tom, I hope you don’t mind me re-iterating your post but I thought it relevant and quite well put.
I agree with Tom Sparkes comments The freeholders in Parliament should be named
I do not doubt for 0ne moment LKP’s genuine desire to see an end to our leasehold laws, it is after all their reason for being. BUT, is it really a feather in the cap to be praised by the Law Commission? Lets not mince words, the entire establishment (with notable exceptions), all professionals – including the legal fraternity (with notable exceptions) DO NOT WANT TO SEE AN END TO OUR LEASEHOLD LAWS. The Law Commission is a willing tool of said establishment and said professionals.
It is extremely likely that proposed reforms will be inadequate in practise, and government attention (yet again) to leasehold, the appointment of the Law Commission, the passing of legislation etc, will all have served their purpose of pacifying and fooling the masses once more……. until the next time, and the next time after that………
LKP, are you playing the game because doing so is the only way to EVENTUALLY achieve your objective?