The three co-founders of the National Leasehold Campaign – Katie Kendrick, Cath Williams and Joanne Darbyshire – are to receive OBEs in the king’s birthday honours.
All three – who are also trustees of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership – bought leasehold houses with aggressive lease terms and set up the National Leasehold Campaign to fight back against the housebuilders who dreamed them up and the punters who bought the freeholders.
NLC now has 33,000 members.
It has campaigned hard to force leasehold on to the political agenda, and organsised a landmark demonstration of leaseholders in Parliament Square in September 2021:
Justin Madders MP, former co-chair of the APPG on leasehold reform, said: “This recognition is so well deserved for the many years of hard work that has gone into the formation and success that is the National Leasehold Campaign.
“They should all be immensely proud of the work they have done and the positive way they have helped set the agenda for leasehold reform.”
The following statement has been received from NLC:
“We are honoured and very proud to be recognised on the King’s Birthday Honours list to
each receive an OBE for our services to Housing and Leaseholders, which recognises the
vital work of the National Leasehold Campaign (NLC).
“This honour is not just ours; it belongs to everyone who has contributed to this critical movement for change.
“First and foremost, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the committee members
and those who nominated us for this prestigious award. We would also like to extend huge
gratitude to our family and friends, who have given us unwavering support and
encouragement throughout this journey.
“Our commitment to this campaign has meant many hours away from our families and we recognise the sacrifices they have made too.
“We are three Northern Mums that have taken on the ugly face of corporate greed and ensured that others will not have to go through the nightmare that we have.
“We are grateful to fellow campaigners, NLC members, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
(LKP) and the numerous cross-party MPs who have supported us over the last eight years –
thank you for your dedication, determination and resilience.
“Together, we have informed, empowered and united leaseholders who felt invisible.
“Together, we have pushed boundaries and achieved milestones that we could never have accomplished alone.
“Our journey has not been without challenges. We faced opposition, scepticism, and at
times, moments of doubt, but we persevered together. Our OBEs are recognition of our own
personal contributions and the difference we have made to many leaseholders.
“We will keep pushing forward for leasehold reform and ultimately leasehold abolition, with
Commonhold becoming the default tenure here, as it is in the rest of the World.
“We promise to use this recognition as a platform to ensure that the voices of leaseholders
remain heard.
“This campaign demonstrates the power of collective action. We will continue to represent the 5.5million leaseholders in England and Wales, continuing to drive reform and giving them control of their own homes.”
Additional Background information:
The National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) was launched to abolish feudal leasehold laws
which affect over five million people in England and Wales (one in five households) and
campaigns to end leasehold tenure for houses and make Commonhold mandatory for flats.
The NLC has almost 33k members in its Facebook group.
A not-for-profit organisation, the NLC was created in 2017 by three women campaigners,
Katie Kendrick, Cath Williams and Jo Darbyshire, who found themselves trapped by unfair
and extortionate leasehold arrangements. All three women are no longer leaseholders but
continue to campaign against this feudal system.
Already, the trio have achieved many successes in highlighting the issue and have given
evidence to the government’s select committee into leaseholds which has resulted in the
Competitions and Marketing Authority (CMA) investigation and damning verdict on leasehold
mis-selling in February 2020, the Law Commission’s excellent reports on Enfranchisement,
Right to Manage and Commonhold and participated in consultations on Ground Rent and
Leasehold Reform leading to the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rents) Act 2022 and
Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LAFRA).
The NLC is a grassroots organisation formed by leaseholders across England and Wales
who are fighting for fundamental reforms to the leasehold system. Frustrated by escalating
ground rents, onerous clauses and the difficulty in selling or remortgaging their properties, they united to raise awareness of the inherent injustices within the leasehold system.
Through tireless campaigning, media engagement and direct lobbying of MPs, the NLC have
played a pivotal role in bringing the plight of leaseholders to the forefront of national political discourse.
They’ve shared countless personal stories, meticulously researched and presented evidence of systemic issues, and effectively challenged the narrative traditionally presented by developers and freeholders. Their efforts have been instrumental in forcing political parties to recognise the widespread problems associated with leasehold, ultimately contributing to the legislative changes aimed at protecting current and future leaseholders.
For further information email Nationalleaseholdcampaign@gmail.com or follow the NLC on
Facebook
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National Leasehold Campaign tops 10,000 members on its first anniversary
Justin Madders MP endorses the National Leasehold Campaign trio for prestigious Women in Housing Awards
Here’s the National Leasehold Campaign pledge, after the government panders to the sector over its PR piffle emitted last month
The creation of the National Leasehold Campaign
Lloyds Bank becomes the latest ‘for profit’ registered social landlord
Many Congratulations to the three ladies on their OBE’s. Such a well deserved honour.
Congratulations to Katie, Cath and Joanne. Well deserved, we would never have made any progress without them or Carlex/LKP who started the campaign way back in 2010. The introduction later on of the NLC gave the campaign a big boost. Of course there is still much work to do.
Unfortunately there are trolls on another Campaigning Website who will give abuse about this award, but best just ignore it. I received some shocking comments from that website editor and his abusive sidekick for my support of NLC and LKP. They are solely involved with Firstport and do not get involved with those who create Government Policy.
Hi Michael. Thankyou so much for your kind words. It is an absolute honour to receive an OBE and it certainly wasn’t something we were expecting. But it is recognition that the campaign has been recognised at the top of the establishment.
I remember Bellway telling me back in 2017 “There is no Leasehold Scandal”.
Im sorry you get so much grief from the trolls. Louie would always tell us “not to stop when a dog barks or we would never get to our destination’.
There has been an incredible about of work done over many years to get to this point by many compaigners. We do not and will not forget them. Sadly many of them are not still with us Nigel Wilkins. Louie Burns and professor James Driscoll who have been instrumental in the campaign. As we have stated “This honour is not just ours; it belongs to everyone who has contributed to this critical movement for change”. CARLEX/LKP/NLC and all the campaigners who have put so much time and effort into improving the situation for leaseholders. We are making a difference, we will carry on pushing forward collectively and keep the pressure on government.
Katie
Katie. There are around 400,000 leaseholders in Social Housing properties ,with me being one of them. Although we may be on the sidelines I think the campaigning by NLC and others will have helped us on two issues.
Our ground rent doubling every 25 years will no longer be collected by MTVH.. (Unfortunately it still remains as a condition in the Lease).
Many Social housing companies are now extending the Lease period to 999 years.
So thanks for that.
We now await the Government bringing in some serious Regulation of these companies, to enable us to get a better repair and maintenance service and a fairer Service Charge.
By the way that Dog is still barking and it’s getting louder.
Many thanks to Katie, Cath and Joanne. Your hard work is much appreciated.
When I became aware of the NLC many years ago in my head it was only a matter of time until the founders would be honoured and recognised for their work.
Three women with lives and families, putting everything on hold to fight for what is right, often at great personal cost. Up against incredibly wealthy organisations with an army of lobbyists and PR professionals on the payroll to discredit the NLC and leaseholders at every turn. Yet somehow, they persisted, they got concessions and leaseholders have never been in a better position thanks to the hard graft and pure determination. Congratulations and well done.
Well said Baz. Sadly as hard as these ladies have fought, leasehold is still with us.