Wow.
Something is happening in our politics.
From Zack Polanski on the left to Guido Fawkes on the right, there’s growing agreement: leasehold must be abolished.
Free the land. Free the people.
So why are The Labour Party siding with the offshore property mafia?”
Harry Scoffin
The government is praising itself for getting Leasehold reforms over the line. It has in fact missed out on provisions it promised to enact in the Labour Manifesto and in the King’s Speech…
- Manifesto: “We will enact the package of Law Commission proposals on leasehold enfranchisement, right to manage and commonhold.“
- King’s Speech: “enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations to bolster leaseholders’ fundamental rights to extend their lease and buy their freehold and take over the freeholders building management functions.”
These recommendations on “enfranchisement” would make it cheaper for leaseholders to buy out freeholders and ones on “Right to Manage” would empower flat-owners to control service charges without having to buy the freehold. These are missing from the draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill…
Suddenly when asked about it yesterday housing minister Matthew Pennycook – who has led on the bill – said:
“As for the other recommendations made in the three reports from the Law Commission, the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 implemented a significant number of the Law Commission’s enfranchisement recommendations, a small number of its right-to-manage recommendations, and none of its recommendations on commonhold. We cannot do everything in this Bill… but we are committed to enacting those remaining recommendations relating to leasehold enfranchisement and other things over the course of the Parliament.”
Those remaining elements have been long-grassed. Pennycook has at the same time attacked the Tories for only adopting some of the Law Commission’s recommendations in the previous government. Glass houses…
