The government’s heralded “Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill” has been published without a key element of the intended legislation. The published bill does not ban developers from selling new build property as leasehold, an admission the government admits was due to the rushed nature of the bill’s drafting so soon after the King’s Speech.
First reported in The Times, the omission has been described as a huge embarrassment to the government given the fanfare which preceded its introduction. The error was identified by Matthew Pennycook, the shadow housing minister, who has been quoted as saying:
“Not only does this long overdue piece of legislation not ensure that new flats will be sold as freehold, contrary to what ministers have claimed it doesn’t even do what it says on the tin and ban the sale of new leasehold houses.
“A Labour government will make commonhold the default tenure for all new properties as part of our commitment to fundamentally and comprehensively reform the leasehold system by enacting the Law Commission’s recommendations on enfranchisement, commonhold and right to manage in full”.
The Bill was introduced to Parliament on Monday, just 2 weeks after the King’s Speech and was described by Housing Minister Michael Gove as the most significant reforms to the leasehold system for a generation.” The solution is to amend the bill at a later stage as it passes through Parliament, or reintroduce an updated bill.
A spokesman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said:
“Liberating leaseholders forms a vital part of the government’s long-term plan for housing. That’s why we are bringing forward the biggest changes to the system for a generation by giving leaseholders significant new rights, powers and protections through the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
“As we laid out on Monday, we will bring forward amendments as the bill progresses through parliament and that includes the ban on leasehold houses.”
The National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) has campaigned for change for 7 years describing the introduction of the bill earlier this week as “momentous.” Katie Kendrick, founder of the NLC added
“We all know leasehold reform is long overdue. Banning leasehold houses was low hanging fruit when tackling the iniquitous leasehold system, nevertheless it was promised and wasn’t delivered in the draft bill. I’m not surprised leaseholders are outraged. It’s embarrassing that this omission will now need to be added back into the bill. This is an opportunity for government to go one step further, we urge them to not just ban new leasehold houses but also new leasehold flats”.
