As MPs debate leasehold reform this afternoon, the largely anonymous residential freehold investors in Justice for Property Rights – supposedly “retirees, small-scale investors, and shared freeholders” – has produced a glossy “independent” report based on the claimed responses of 2,000 leaseholders.
LKP has asked the group for a copy of its dataset, prepared by Censuswide.
The “independent” report says that 45.1% claim that leasehold ownership has had an overall positive impact on their lives .
That 38.5% said service charges were the cost that had increased most unexpectedly and was the biggest financial concern associated with leasehold ownership.
That only 16.4% said that government plans to making buying freehold easier would affect them personally.
Ground rents are defended at length in the report – including discussion of the government’s 40-year ground rent sunset – but leaseholder responses on the issue are not published.
“This survey does not suggest that every leaseholder supports ground rents,” says Justice for Property Rights. “Nor does it suggest that ground rent reform is unnecessary.”
In line with all other lobbyists opposed to leasehold reforms the group does not overtly say any such thing.
Indeed, it is loudly in favour of better management, communication, “responsiveness” and “the ability to hold managing agents accountable”.
In other words, in favour of just about everything except keeping control over other people’s money and enjoying a ground income in return for no service at all.
There is quite a bit of finger wagging at government reforms ignoring – that old favourite – “unintended consequences”.
In the debate to reform leasehold, Justice for Property Rights claims, “one important voice has often been absent. The voice of leaseholders themselves.”
It warns: “For legislation of this significance, understanding the experiences and priorities of leaseholders is not simply desirable – it is essential.”
Leaseholders may feel words “brass” and “neck” emerge when considering an “independent” report from commercial freeholders telling them what they think.
After all, Justice for Property Rights (“retirees, small-scale investors, and shared freeholders”) includes such luminaries as Robert Steinhouse of Freehold Properties 38 Limited; Quadron Investments, of Elgin House Hitchen, where ground rents rose from £25 to £2,350; and Morgoed Estates …
And … surely not?, Central Street Properties (Pear Street) Limited, owned by Israel and Chavi Moskovitz, of Avon Freeholds fame (currently fighting the Cresta Court RTM in the Supreme Court.
9,000 per cent ground rent rise brings ‘misery’ for Hitchin leaseholders
Four leaseholders in Hitchin have been hit by a 9,000 per cent rise in the ground rent payable to their freeholder, Quadron Investments Ltd.
Of course, there is no reason at all for ministers or MPs to pay much regard to this latest lobbying foray from freeholders.
A far better resource for the views of leaseholders and the subject of reform is provided by the Housing Select Committee report into pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5902/cmselect/cmcomloc/40/report.html
Indeed, the committee’s chair Florence Eshalomi has called the debate this afternoon.
The full Justice for Property Rights report is here:
Related posts:
Communities Select Committee reject the lobbying nonsense of the freeholders’ good behaviour ‘pledge’
Political arms race commences as Labour announces £250 ground rents for existing leaseholders
We are going to court if necessary to get ripped off leaseholders their money back, CMA tells BBCR4 MoneyBox
Lawyers to Communities Select Committee: Stop ‘sticking plaster reforms’. End ‘draconian’ forfeiture. £10 ground rents a ‘mistake’. Make legal costs fair to leaseholders. Commonhold failed because developers make money out of leasehold …
Housing minister says LEASE must be on the side of leaseholders, and promises more money
Land Registry’s rotten foundations are making leasehold reform far harder
