By Harry Scoffin The property section of The Times has this month been leading on calls to end opaque insurance arrangements for leasehold blocks. In a sign of how leasehold is now dominating the news agenda, the title’s investment editor Mark Atherton has published on the issue of secret commissions over two consecutive Saturdays. Leaseholders […]
Bottomley thanks Number 10 for leasehold reform … while colleague brands Persimmon ‘crooks, cowboys and con artists’ at prime minister’s questions
By Harry Scoffin APPG co-chair Sir Peter Bottomley lavished praise on Theresa May and her chief of staff Gavin Barwell at prime minister’s questions today. Mr Barwell, a former housing minister, was set to present an award to LKP heads Sebastian O’Kelly and Martin Boyd at a reception in Parliament on Monday but was unable […]
Number 10 chief of staff Gavin Barwell ‘delighted’ to be invited to present award to LKP
The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership was presented with a prestigious award by the All Party Parliamentary Group for leasehold and commonhold reform, which represents 171 MPs. Former housing minister Gavin Barwell, the current chief of staff of Number 10, was to have presented the award to Sebastian O’Kelly, LKP chief executive, and to Martin Boyd, the […]
Long Harbour hits reverse on forfeiture to £800,000 flat over £400 ground rent … and JB Leitch halves its legal bill
Both Long Harbour and debt collectors JB Leitch hit reverse gear after a forfeiture threat to an £800,000 flat over a late £400 ground rent bill was raised publicly by the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership. And JB Leitch has now halved its £2,000 legal costs demand to £1,000. Millie Li, a Chinese citizen, visited China in […]
Freeholders’ ‘cowboy’ insurance commissions at leaseholders’ expense attacked in The Times
But the fiddling will go on for as long as leaseholders are not a party to the insurance contract that they are obliged under the lease to pay for The issue of freeholders and managing agents fiddling insurance commissions at leaseholders’ expense was raised in the Times earlier this month. Sir Peter, 74, said that […]
RBS kicks leaseholders facing forfeiture when they are down, LKP tells FT
LKP has accused the taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland of “kicking leaseholders when they are down” in the Financial Times. The issue concerns leaseholders facing forfeiture. This is usually avoided when lenders – whose mortgage is at risk on leases that face forfeiture – step in to settle the debt. RBS censured for tough stance […]
Furious attack on government Grenfell cladding inaction in Commons
The government was under attack in the Commons today over its inactivity over Grenfell cladding in private blocks of flats. John Healey, Labour shadow housing secretary, made a powerful attack on Housing minister Kit Malthouse, asking “if the government cannot deal with this, what is it in office for?” Mr Malthouse said, “as a result […]
LKP praises Law Commission over commonhold in Telegraph
Commonhold is slowly working its way into the national consciousness – 16 years after being introduced to the statute book. Last Friday, Sam Barker in the Daily Telegraph reported the Law Commission’s study of the tenure. Commonhold exists almost all jurisdictions apart from England and Wales, where flats and over a million houses are held […]
Officials fail to stop LKP publishing legal opinions on flawed reform of Recognised Tenants’ Associations (RTAs)
A last minute attempt to stop LKP from publishing three legal opinions extremely critical of the government’s bungled reform to Recognised Tenants’ Associations failed last week. The government introduced a statutory instrument in October that has actually made the position of leaseholders worse. The failing was referenced in the Commons by Sir Peter Bottomley with […]
Can the Leasehold Advisory Service monopoly survive devastating questioning by Select Committee?
– Select Committee deluged with complaints about taxpayer funded organisation – It failed to alert government to scandals over ground rents and proliferation of leasehold houses – Why did it hold seminars advising freeholders how to exploit leaseholders? – ‘Huge credibility problem’ for LEASE among leaseholders, says MP: it is working against them – Why […]
LKP and Bottomley at Number 10 to reverse flawed reform of recognised tenants’ associations
LKP chair Martin Boyd and Sir Peter Bottomley attended a meeting at Number 10 yesterday to urge government to overturn its flawed statutory instrument to reform recognised tenants’ associations. The MHCLG announced changes in October and made the existing arrangements even worse for leaseholders. The key hurdle faced by leaseholders is to contact their leasehold-owning […]
Brokenshire to meet house builders and freehold investors … but no leaseholders
James Brokenshire is to meet house builders and freehold investors on Thursday … but not with the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership or any other leaseholder body, as Sir Peter Bottomley has recommended. These will include CEOs or senior executives of Taylor Wimpey, Bellway, Persimmon, Barratt, Countryside Properties plc, Redrow, Laing O’Rourke, Morris Homes, Miller Homes, First […]
20,000 leaseholders trapped in blocks with Grenfell cladding, says Telegraph
The Grenfell cladding disaster for private flat owners got another airing last Saturday, this time in the Daily Telegraph. It claims that 143 private blocks have failed the governments fire safety tests involving 20,000 leaseholders. “The Government has said that the building’s owners have a “moral responsibility” to ensure that the bill does not fall […]
MPs turn out in force to welcome leaseholder demonstrators at Westminster
MPs turned out in force this morning to meet leasehold demonstrators organised by the National Leasehold Campaign, most of who arrived by coach from the North West. Sir Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick, patrons of LKP and co-chairs of the APPG on leasehold reform, were on hand, as was Justin Madders, the deputy chair who […]
Right to Manage added to the ever growing list of leasehold reforms
LKP is very pleased that today sees the launch of the Law Commision review of the now broken right to manage legislation. The full press release from the Law Commision is set out below: Law reform needed to help leaseholders take control of their buildings Housing Secretary James Brokenshire has asked the Law Commission to […]
Prime Minister ‘not ruling anything out’ with freeholders and builders over responsibility for Grenfell cladding
The prime minister addressed the Grenfell cladding issue in private blocks at parliamentary questions this afternoon, ‘ruling nothing out’ to get residential freeholders and developers to take responsibility rather than dump costs on leaseholders. She said that Barratt, Legal and General and Taylor Wimpey “are doing the right thing and taking responsibility”. The recognition of […]
