Both Labour and the Conservatives have made leasehold manifesto commitments ahead of December’s election.
Both the Conservative and Labour manifestos acknowledge the need to undertake reforms to leasehold law and practice. Both seem to agree that a ban on the sale of new leasehold houses should be implemented and that ground rents should be restricted to a peppercorn.
Mark Chick, partner at Bishop & Sewell and Director of ALEP, commented as follows:
“Leasehold enfranchisement has now got high-level political interest. Therefore, it is no surprise that both major parties have featured the issue in their general election manifestos. Both parties have made similar pledges to make the system fairer and clearer. It is clear that leasehold reform is likely to be high on any new government’s agenda.
For those of us that have been involved in the consultations on the reform of the law in this area this is exciting to see. As many of you will be aware, the publication of the Law Commission’s proposed options for reform in this area have been put on hold because of the impending election. We await their report on this in February of next year. What any new government will decide to do with this remains to be seen, but these leasehold manifesto commitments indicate a willingness and a therefore a strong likelihood that the proposed reforms will continue.”
Other related articles and comment from Mark Chick also appears on the following links:
The Mortgage Strategy election manifesto round-up
Property Tribes: ALEP respond to political manifestos
For more information, please contact our expert Landlord & Tenant team on leasehold@bishopandsewell.co.uk or call 020 7631 4141.
