This week, following the first King’s speech by King Charles III, what caught my eye was the proposed Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill which represents the second stage in reforms already introduced in the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, which put an end to ground rents for new qualifying long residential leasehold properties in England and Wales.
The Bill seems to be trying to deregulate and make more efficient the process for leaseholders to extend their lease by the freehold or take out the management of the building.
Highlights in the Bill include: making it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholder in houses and flats to extend or buy; increasing the 25% non-residential limit which prevented leaseholders in buildings with a mixed use such as flats, shops and offices altogether combining their freehold or taking over management; banning the creation of new leasehold houses and removing the requirement for a new leaseholder to have owned the house or flat for two years.
This Bill is in line with what the Government say are three key priorities to underpin the legislation including increasing economic growth and safeguarding health and economic prosperity, reducing inflation and assisting the Bank of England to return inflation to target by taking responsible decisions on spending and borrowing.
What this Bill looks like (and it is important to remember that it may be watered down or amended somewhat before it becomes law) is not so much as to overhaul the entire system but introduce individual reforms.
What is interesting is that a couple of weeks following the Government’s announcement that the abolition of “no fault evictions” would be delayed pending reforms to the Court system, there is still a Renters (Reform) Bill featured in the speech.
It remains to be seen how this Bill (together with the one above) will evolve through Parliament and the devil as always will be in the detail.
Regards to all,
R