2018 has seen an influx of articles offering differing opinion on various aspects of the leasehold industry. The Law Commission has recently published their Consultation Paper on commonhold reform: “Reinvigorating commonhold: the alternative to leasehold ownership.”The Law Commission states that the paper includes proposals which would:
- Enable commonhold to be used for larger, mixed-use developments which accommodate not only residential properties but also shops, restaurants, and leisure facilities.
- Allow shared ownership leases and other forms of affordable housing to be included within commonhold.
- Make it easier for existing leaseholders to convert to commonhold and gain greater control over their properties.
- Improve mortgage lenders’ confidence in commonhold to increase the choice of financing available for home buyers.
- Provide homeowners with a greater say in how the costs of running their commonhold are met.
- Enable homeowners to end unattractive long-term contracts imposed by developers”.
The consultation period is open until 10 March 2019. In my opinion, the big turning point will be if (and when) more mortgage lenders agree to provide mortgages and finance on commonhold properties. I am not sure that this will happen until the legal framework is altered to give the lenders more security over the properties. Literally, watch this space!
Looking forward to seeing what developments 2019 brings to us all.
