Leasehold reform legislation still has ‘missing par...

Breaking News

13 December 2023

3927 Reads
0 Comments

By Marc Shoffman

TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Leasehold reform legislation still has ‘missing parts’ - warning

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill is falling short of its own objectives, an industry executive has claimed.

Linz Darlington, founder of leasehold extension specialists Homehold, warned the legislation is “deafeningly silent” on set rates for extending a lease.

It comes as the Bill passed its second reading this week and has entered the committee stage where it will be further analysed by MPs.

Darlington said: “Whether or not the bill will make lease extensions cheaper - or potentially hugely more expensive - will be decided outside of the scrutiny of the "parliamentary process.

“An example is that a lease extension on £200,000 and 80 years remaining could cost £4,000 under the current legislation. if the key ‘deferment rate’ was reduced from the current 5% to 4%, the cost would more than double overnight to about £8,500.

“Labour have been quick to pick up on the Conservatives' omission, with both Ruth Cadbury and Samantha Dixon commenting on it during the debate. The latter scathingly referred to the Conservatives' claim that the process would be cheaper as ‘unsubstantiated’.

“What we need in this Billl is not legislation missing key parts, but a workable piece of legislation that does what it says it is going to do."