By Katie Kendrick
Many of you have heard me speak many times before. I have lost count how many times I have introduced myself to yet another new Housing Minister and hear I am again doing exactly that.
I am a positive person by nature, but I am totally losing faith that any help for existing leaseholders is on the way.
The government do appear to give this topic lip service, but it’s not more words we need, no more empty promises we need legislation.
The leasehold ‘can’ has been kicked further and further down the road that we are now in a position where this government may run out of time to actually deliver anything at all. I’m not just speaking for myself but the 27,000 members of the NLC.
Thank you Minister for your reassurance that a comprehensive plan to reform leasehold is coming, but let’s be honest we have all in this room heard this many times.
I’m not going to stand here and thank the government for listening, we have gone way past that point.
Leaseholders are outraged that we are having the same conversations over and over again but they, the leaseholders, are the ones left struggling every single day to pay their extortionate service charges.
They are the ones that can’t sell because buyers are pulling out due to onerous lease terms and mortgage lenders won’t lend.
They are the ones trapped in this nightmare.
They are the ones paying the price for the repeated delays. And don’t get me started on the fact thousands of innocent leaseholders are still living in unsafe homes. I can’t begin to imagine how that feels but I do know this is totally unacceptable.
The cross-party support on this issue is incredible. That’s because everyone knows how abusive this current system is.
We know, MP’s know, Ministers know, the media know, the industry knows yet here we all are agreeing with each other yet nothing has changed for existing leaseholders. Part one of the two-part legislation (The ground rent bill) was delivered in 2022, supposedly to be followed promptly with part two. Well it’s part two that existing leaseholders NEED.
We had a glimmer of hope that at the very least the AST issue / loophole may be resolved within section 21 of the Renters Reform Bill but my understanding now that that Bill too has been delayed during its passage through Parliament. Another important Bill at huge risk of running out of time.
All political parties go on about homeownership.
Leasehold is not the homeownership dream, It should never fall under the ‘umbrella’ of homeownership. It is a long-term tenancy agreement. We can only achieve true homeownership if we stop building more leasehold tenancies and move to Commonhold like the rest of the world.
When I started this campaign lots of people told me the government would never change it, they would never end the leasehold system, but I had faith in the gov when they would agree the system was broken and that leasehold needed to go and they were working on it and it would get done. I believed them at the start, I believed them in the 2nd year and 3rd but now I’m in the 7th year of running this campaign and I have to admit I’m struggling to keep the faith. We are at the point where leaseholders have lost faith anything is going to change.
It’s clear from hearing from the Residential Freehold Association today that they may support ‘some’ elements of leasehold reform as opposed to abolishment. I have to say please take your leasehold goggles off and embrace Commonhold.
This is what I and all NLC members want to see in the King’s speech – anything less than this isn’t good enough.
- Online calculator to make buying freeholds and extending leases easier – and we need one that hasn’t been rigged by freeholders.
- Removal of marriage value – in its entirety (no half-baked measures). Hundreds of leaseholders waiting on this decision as their leases become shorter every day.
- Making it easier for leaseholders in blocks and on estates to take back control of service charges and estate management fees.
- Legislate to Ban leasehold houses moving forward.
- Some urgency and immediate action to establish Commonhold as default tenure for communal living.
- Shared ownership isn’t home ownership if it is leasehold. Just adding to the millions of leaseholders already being abused by this system.
- lots and lots of sales falling through for various leasehold issues (ground rents, service charges, etc.). We are way from these problems being over.
The Leasehold Scandal has been going on for so long there has even been a play made about it called “Fleecehold”. The play was put on at the Camden Fringe Festival this August and was a sell out all 3 nights. We aim to take the play on a tour around the country to help raise awareness that Leaseholders are not alone and that we are not going to give up fighting for the right to own our homes.
Related posts:
After 60 consultations, Bottomley told ‘when parliamentary time allows’ for reforms promised three years ago
Katie Kendrick gets Rightmove to include full leasehold listings, while LEASE does nothing (as usual)
LKP trustees Katie Kendrick and Louie Burns tell Sky News and BBC R4 MoneyBox of ‘David and Goliath’ fight for freeholds
What is the point of this government, asks Lisa Nandy as it wriggles over promised leasehold reforms
Campaigner Katie Kendrick gets Rightmove to include lease details on sales listings
APPG on shared ownership: L&Q wrong to hard sell ‘Black Friday’ knock-off flats to buyers. Urgent need for shared ownership re-sale data to be on Land Registry
That was a very good summary of the situation by Katie. For me campaigning against the leasehold system started in May 2010 when after the General Election Grant Shapps was appointed Housing Minister. On day one he stated there was no chance of reforms as the current regulations allowed the Landlord and Managers to act in a fair way. He labelled any reforms as “RedTape.”
Since then we have had around 14 more Housing Ministers, most have shown some interest to start with but up till now they have had little support from their seniors or have been quickly replaced..
Both LKP and NLC have given a major boost and have managed to get some important changes.. Other campaigning websites have also assisted.
The current Housing Minister plus Michael Gove seem to be the best we have had so far.
So I would suggest that every Leaseholder writes to their MP, particularly if they have a Conservative MP and insist that the reforms or abolishment Michael Gove has promoted gets put into yet he Kings Speech without any watering down.
May I suggest that all campaigners need to be united in this action, as any conflict between us will only give those with a vested interest in Leasehold an excuse to water down the recommended reforms.
Thank you for your continued support Michael. I know you have been fighting the abusive leasehold system for many years, as have many more campaigners. Thank you so much for your tenacity. The NLC are certainly not the first leasehold campaign group (or the only one). The earlier campaigners didn’t have social media back then, we have been fortunate to be able to use social media as a pioneering force for change and have managed to grow the leasehold movement (which includes 27k members of the NLC). There has been leasehold campaigners for decades. The late Nigel Wilkins played no small part in laying the foundations to where we are today (CARL). I never got to meet Nigel but his legacy lives on in all of us. Leasehold Legend Louie Burns inspired me personally to believe that change can and will happen if we work together. Louie always said to me “Katie don’t stop every time a dog barks or you will never get to your destination”. He also kept telling me our biggest strength is each other. So onwards & upwards and together we will and can end this horrendous system.
Katie,
The Government talk is well meaning, I hope they deliver radical reform or even better abolishment of the Freehold / Leasehold Industry racket and replace it with Commonhold for those that wish to adopt it.
Several hundred Years of systematic exploitation really is enough. The United Kingdom needs to fall in line with better business models that have stood the test of time.
Leaseholders need to be aware of the “smoke and mirrors” double act that is being put out by the Freeholders representatives, where they claim to provide something in return for the ground rent. I would like to see the audited evidence?
The Freeholder in my case simply charges a ground rent in return for precisely nothing
Thanks to Katie and Stephen for their comments.
As I see it the Kings Speech on the 7 November needs to include the following.
1 Immediate reforms to the current Leasehold System which will help everyone but mostly the elderly in Retirement Complexes including those in Social housing.
This includes
Abolishment of all Ground Rents
Abolishment of Exit Fees
Better regulation and control of Landlords and Management companies
A solution to the dangerous cladding situation.
Easier and cheaper ways to extend a lease.
Easier and cheaper ways to change an unsatisfactory lease condition.
Easier way to get rid of an unsatisfactory management company.
2 A time scale ( preferably a short one) where Leasehold can be replaced by Commonhold in all situations where it would be of benefit.
I wrote to my Michael Gove and, as a wavering Labour voter, to my MP (Sir Kier Starmer) twice about leasehold reform and Labour’s plans if they were to win. Mr.Gove’s office replied with some fluffy talk of ‘reform’ (i.e. don’t hold your breath) but to my huge disappointment, I had no reply, not even a vague PR wish, from Sir Kier’s office. The thinking on the part of the government is obviously to wear down leaseholders into giving up the fight and as for Labour, I have no idea what they think on this (anyone else?) and whether they will have the courage to drag the UK into the 21st century and take on the. dirty and rotten system of marriage value in enfranchisement and ground rents.
The owners of the so-called ‘grand estates’ were ‘granted’ land (unlike leaseholders who actually worked and paid for their homes) back in the days when kings gave their friends chunks of the country for killing a foreigner or a local or for just being loyal. And so their descendants continue to cash in. Apologies, they have worked very hard to get where they are. Obviously.
Really, can someone explain the difference between this collection of money for decades or generations by hereditary landlords, investment groups, off-shorers, Lords, MPs (?) etc. for little or no involvement in the day-to-day running and maintenance of a home and the ‘pizzo’ demanded of honest Sicilians by the Mafia? Remove the contemporary violence and the similarities are startling.
Thank you LKP and NLC for all the important work you do. We’re with you every step.
This topic barely gets a mention in the media the way other campaigns do but please, please, please don’t give up this fight for justice.
Completely agreed – but how can we support this cause? How can we organise the support of people together towards this, is there a link to a page or petition etc or any upcoming events?
This will be the final nail in the Tory coffin .
Words have meaning; The word “reform” means a process, a journey to an unknown destination; People are not asking for yet another Reform LKP; People want a Leasehold Abolition Bill; Not clear why LKP would like people to settle for minor changes? Should LKP distance itself from MP’s whose parties have their finger in the Leeasehold pie?
Leaseholders can under existing law acquire the Management, Experience shows that after initial enthusiasm trying to get neighbouring owners to pay a service charge that they dont want to pay is very difficult and suing your neighbours is not conducive to a peaceful atmosphere. This campaign confuses trying to extend leases at a fundamentally lower cost with Estate Management. Service charges wont necessarily go down if the leaseholders are running the show, they might very briefly but the same work still has to be done. The reason the Government has hesitated is that if the legislation is confiscatory it is in breach of the European convention on Human Rights Article 1. Therefore it is much more likely that reform will come in many smaller steps. A good one to start with is to cap costs pretty low that are otherwise recoverable from applicants in enfranchisement proceeings.
FF,
Going Right to Manage is a fairly straight forward legal procedure that allows the RTM Company to let go of the often inherited third party managing agent, and to replace them with a managing agent of our choice. The managing agent of our choice carry’s out all the duties and functions of the former managing agent, including payment of invoices (on time) and chasing debtors (if any).
So far, we have achieved two consecutive Years of service charge reduction, and anticipate a third next Year. The reserve found has increased for two consecutive Years and the premises is maintained to the right standard.
Most of my Neighbours quality of life has improved significantly, and the constant worry of service charge poverty is now a thing of the past.
I am personally only aware of one RTM Company that reverted to employing a former managing agent, a decision I am convinced they will come to regret.
I believe that some Freeholders and their property managing agents deliberately mislead existing Leaseholders, by misrepresenting Right to Manage for obvious financial reasons. No one wants to lose business to a competitor.
Every Leaseholder at this private Residential Apartment Block has seen a 39.43% reduction in service charge so far since going Right to Manage.
There is actually what may well be a bigger problem.
It is “Monetization of the managed asset”
This is the philosophy behind such property management firms as Rendall & Rittner, and Firstport. Noted that these two forms are now both “foreign owned”.
They claim to be regulated by the RICS, or the IRPM and ARMA [now joined together as TPI]
Regulation has failed. The first notable report was Lord Best’s in 2019.
Lord Bichard wrote a report acknowledging this on behalf of the RICS – and a year later the impact is best described as “none”.
I am writing a report on my research – and it will not make happy reading, as it is in essence a long case study with all the above institutions being “tested” by genuine complaints !
It is simply a failure of “administrative justice”.
We have managed to get an article published.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12496227/
Unsurprisingly, it has already been complained about.
Dear Katie,
Thank you very much for your work on this issue.
You have listed 5 things as the minimum requirement that you expect in King’s speech on 7th November. However it does not include anything about abolishing or capping ground rent. Has this idea been dropped? I really hope not. My husband and I have written about it to our MP (several times), Michael Gove, Labour etc. but have not received any response that would give us any meaningful reassurance that something will be done about it any time soon. Does anyone know the newest position/plans on ground rent for existing leaseholders?
Existing leaseholders will continue to pay Ground Rent. If and when you buy a new lease it will be excluded.
Katie Kendrick can’t spell. It is A B O L I S H,
Whatever goes into the Kings Speech on 7 November will be a culmination of all the hard campaigning over the last 13 plus years. For the next six weeks all campaigners and campaigning organisations efforts should be geared to ensuring the Government keep to their promises.
Now is not the time for leaseholders to be arguing amongst themselves as it could scupper all the hard work put in over all those years.
So I would appeal to any campaigner or organisation that has any grievances to air to put it on the back-burner for the next few weeks and for all to unite to get the job in hand done.
For the sake all those thousands of unfortunate leaseholders who are suffering from the current system.
Don’t worry all the main campaign groups are working together and have been doing for years.
It’s a relief to hear that . In future I will ignore any comment on websites that suggest otherwise.
I agree, Michael. Lets hope there are some ethical, brave politicians in Parliament. I’m not a supporter of the Conservatives mainly because of their stance to date on leasehold, but if the party really does, as I keep hearing, believe voters should be able to own their own homes, then it’s time to prove it. I don’t want to hear from them the tired old excuses that the abolishment of clauses such as marriage value for ALL leasehold properties is complicated or that will take too much time (to do what – compensate some hereditary peers? Oh how very meritocratic) or that it is an aspiration, etc. i.e. “don’t worry, Lord X, it won’t happen”.
I want to hear that it will not only be in the King’s speech in November but that there will be time to pass it into law by the next election. If abolishment isn’t on the cards, Labour should steal this policy and add it to their 2024 manifesto : there are several million votes up for grabs at the next election.
Unfortunately when watching reports on the Annual Conservative Conference there seems to be a big rise of the anti-woke, anti-regulation brigade.
My fear is that this November will be the last chance to get the reforms we need.
And we will go back to the situation experienced in 2010 when regulations were regarded as red tape.
We have a parliament with so many compromised and weak MPs, lacking in any vision for this country, let alone the ability to think independently but I hope you are wrong on that, Micheal, and MPs will not be ruled by fear, for once.
Whether owned by charities, big business or pension funds or inherited by the aristocracy, this form of protection of the powerful should be abolished.
And to all freeholders who profess their capitalist and free-market credentials but who complain that the abolishment of marriage value and their other lucrative, leasehold clauses would impact negatively their profits and estates, may we remind you : as the Ts&Cs state when purchasing most other investments, ‘Your capital may be at risk and investments can go up or down’.