Archive

Plans to set ground rents at a ‘peppercorn rate’ are reported to have been dropped amid opposition from freehold campaigners and...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has secured agreements from eight freeholders to remove “problematic ground rent” terms from leases. The competition...

The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has set out the key questions it could ask agency representatives as its...

The complexities of the government’s leasehold reform proposals affecting millions of homeowners came under the spotlight at a seminar organised by...

Representatives from Propertymark, Trading Standards and The Property Ombudsman (TPO) are set to discuss estate agency regulation in the House of...

Peers in the House of Lords have launched an inquiry into agency regulation. The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee will...

Yulia Barnes is founder and managing partner of Barnes Law   2024 is set to be another significant year for the property...

Parliamentary news may have been dominated by the fallout from the Rwanda Bill yesterday but another important piece of legislation also...

Leasehold campaigners are urging anyone responding to the Government’s consultation on ground rents reform to boycott all options but capping them...

The long-awaited Leasehold and Freehold Bill is set to be unveiled in Parliament today. The Bill aims to make it cheaper and...

The United Kingdom stands on the precipice of a historic overhaul in property ownership. With the King's speech unveiling the anticipated...

Three members of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners take a brief look at some of the trials and tribulations awaiting...

The Government has outlined five proposals to reduce ground rents for existing leaseholders as its latest attempt to reform the sector...

Campaigners and commentators have reacted cautiously to leasehold reform proposals put forward in the King’s Speech. The King took part in his...

Propertymark has given its backing to commitments from the Housing Minister on the long-awaited next steps of leasehold reform. Timothy Douglas, head...

Despite the announcements, the publicity, the guidance and the acres of website information, the most common complaint surrounding house sales is...

As an Estate Agent it’s important to be able to interpret and understand the information that a Title Deed document presents...

Propertymark has written to the Government to ask why attempts to protect leaseholders are being ignored. It comes as the Earl of...

An estate agent is urging people selling their flats to have building safety documentation in place before putting the property on...

Flat owners have seen their service charges rise by 8% over the past year, research suggests. A new service charge index launched...

Real estate consultants SHW is advising leaseholders not to wait to extend their lease. The call follows the start of the Government’s...

The Building Safety Act will cause further delays to the home moving process, a senior industry executive has warned. Rob Hailstone, chief...

The Conveyancing Association has launched a guidance document for firms that addresses the Building Safety Act and Building Safety (Leaseholder Protection)...

A senior peer has vowed to do more to ensure that leaseholders excluded from new building safety regulations get the support...

A Propertymark-supported amendment that aimed to bolster support for leaseholders in unsafe buildings failed to gain approval in the House of...

Agency trade body Propertymark has backed calls for greater leaseholder protections as the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill proceeds through Parliament. The...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has signalled that legislation to allow for further leasehold reform will be included in the next parliamentary...

The slowing housing market may have at least one benefit for leaseholders looking to sell their homes, a property lawyer claims. House...

It’s been a year since Housing Secretary Michael Gove declared that was “morally wrong” that leaseholders should pay to fix unsafe...

The Government has unveiled a pilot scheme aimed to help more flat owners whose homes have become unsafe and, in some...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has committed to look into issues with the Building Safety Act after MPs claimed leaseholders and Help to...

Recent political changes – and there have been quite a few in recent weeks – have brought about something of a...

Housing minister Lee Rowley is set to make one of his first official public appearances at a Conservative Party fringe event...

Thousands more leaseholders are expected to see ground rents cut and some may even receive refunds. It forms part of the Competition...

The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) is putting together an advisory panel to improve governance, accountability and sector representation when formulating policies. It...

New rules on leasehold homes came in this week, banning ground rents on new leases but a property expert warns this...

It’s the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell fire tragedy, but are high rises any safer today than they were then? On 14th...

Boris Johnson has promised a review of the mortgage market and housing benefit rules to help more people to get on...

A high-profile peer has questioned why estate agency regulation wasn’t extended to property management companies in the Queen’s Speech this week. Lord...

You will hopefully have seen that the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 has now received its Royal Assent, meaning it...

Propertymark has given its backing to the ban on ground rents for new leasehold properties and has reminded agents of their...

Fifteen businesses which had bought freeh­olds from housing developer Countryside have now given formal undertakings to remove terms that cause ground...

Too many leaseholders will fall through the cracks of the government’s “piecemeal measures” to combat the cladding crisis.  That’s the view of...

The government is threatening to deny planning consent to developers who refuse to pay towards the removal of unsafe cladding on...

Leaseholders in lower-rise blocks of flats will not have to take out loans to remove dangerous cladding under new government rules...

House and apartment sales are still being hit by confusion and worry over ground rents on existing second-hand leasehold properties. This is...

A probe by the Competition and Markets Authority has led housebuilder Taylor Wimpey to make changes for the benefit of leaseholders.  Taylor...

Leasehold, quite rightly, remains not just an emotive topic given what has happened over the past decade, but it’s very much...

A petition calling on the government to set up an independent enquiry into the cladding crisis has reached a key 10,000...

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has become the latest body to welcome the decision by Countryside Properties to scrap the requirement to pay...

One of the biggest campaign groups calling for leasehold reform has welcomed the action taken by the Competition and Markets Authority...

In what will be seen as the latest win for leaseholders across the UK, it’s been revealed that – following action...

The lack of progress on the much-anticipated government reforms of the leasehold system is leaving thousands of homeowners stranded, according to...

NAEA Propertymark says the news that two major players in the leasehold sector have reformed their activities must be just the...

The Competition and Markets Authority has struck a deal with house builders over leasehold abuses. Aviva has committed to remove certain terms...

The Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017 exposed the dangers of inflammable cladding on residential tower blocks, and what has come...

The controversial demands of Trading Standards for more “material information” to be provided upfront in property details have been criticised by...

The government has launched a formal consultation process on a new residential property developer tax which is to contribute towards cladding...

Two of Britain’s largest house builders have reacted sharply to calls by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick and the Competition and Markets...

The government has given details of two new taxes to provide funds to address the cladding problem on high rise tower blocks...

Agents and a wide range of property experts have demanded yet more government funds to end the cladding crisis that is...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced “an exceptional intervention” promising that leaseholders in high-rise buildings above 18 metres will bear no...

Labour has entered the cladding controversy by calling a vote in the House of Commons to force government action on the...

Leading leasehold experts have sharply criticised the much-hyped reforms announced by the government last week. The Leasehold Group of Companies - formerly led by...

Millions of leaseholders will be given the right to extend their lease by a maximum term of 990 years at zero...

A leasehold group has written to Housing Minister Chris Pincher pressing for an update on the government’s approach to reform for...

Many agents, certainly those in London, will have faced the difficult task of selling a flat with a shorter lease. A...

Survivors and bereaved family members from the Grenfell Tower fire have joined forces with residents trapped in allegedly dangerous flats in...

Wholesale reform of leasehold issues is still some years away, despite recent proposals by the Law Commission and pledges by the...

The long-awaited proposals for leasehold reform produced by the Law Commission suggests giving owners the right to extend their lease for...

There are high hopes that the new stamp duty holiday will make an already busy market even busier - but not...

The death has been announced of one of the country’s leading campaigners against the injustices of the leasehold system, Louie Burns. Burns...

There’s been a broad welcome from agents and other industry organisations for the latest report from the Competition and Markets Authority...

The government is being urged to make commonhold ownership compulsory on all new apartments - and the move could even begin a...

The Law Commission has set out three ways to cut the cost that leaseholders have to pay to buy the freehold...

A 10 point manifesto to drive forward leasehold reform has been published by prominent campaigner Louie Burns, of The Leasehold Solutions Group. The 10...

A London estate agency is attempting to help leaseholders with short leases who may be finding it hard to raise funds...

There’s no doubt that we live in politically charged times and every day appears to bring something new to the ‘party’. For...

A leasehold reform campaigner says government proposals risk creating a two-tier market and do nothing to assist leaseholders already hit by...

A conveyancing body is calling on mortgage lenders to standardise their policies in respect of unexpired lease terms in order to...

It may well seem that the government is pre-occupied with one issue, and one issue alone. While preparations for Brexit take up a...

A firm supporting leaseholders across the UK says the ongoing Competition and Markets Authority probe should “punish” what it calls “rip off...

So far in our contribution to the campaign to replace leasehold with commonhold we have outlined the stories of some of...

The National Association of Estate Agents has welcomed the commitment by the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate the mis-selling of...

Consultation closes today on a Law Commission proposal to radically reshape leasehold and the Right To Manage. Right To Manage was introduced...

The leasehold scandal continues to generate plenty of column inches, with fresh stories emerging almost daily of people living in unsellable...

The leasehold scandal has received plenty of press coverage, with horror stories of people living in homes that are impossible to...

Almost as soon as the government yesterday made its latest announcement to outlaw rogue leasehold deals, the measure was branded “pathetic. More...

The leasehold system has created many unsellable and unmortgageable homes and should change, MPs say. The all-party Housing, Communities and Local Government...

The National Trading Standards Estate Agency team has issued new guidance for those seeking redress over leasehold disputes.  This guidance contains a...

There’s been a dramatic improvement in the speed of searches being completed and returned by local authorities, the government claims. Housing minister...

The National Association of Estate Agents has welcomed the government’s move to ensure most future new-build houses are sold as freehold...

The vast majority of new-build houses are to be sold as freehold with ground rents for new leases capped at £10...

The government has unveiled a new body which, it claims, will raise agency standards. There is a long-standing commitment from the government...

A series of leasehold roadshows beginning next month in Manchester aims to throw a spotlight on problems associated with the tenure,...

The National Association of Estate Agents has given broad support for radical proposals from the Law Commission to end leasehold abuse...

The Property Ombudsman has urged the government to bring the new homes build sector under consumer redress. New builds are not currently...

Almost all buyers of new build houses who purchased a leasehold regret doing so, and the vast majority say they definitely wouldn't...

A specialist property law firm is calling on the government to speed up changes in the law to avoid abusive leasehold...

A new website has been set up specifically to help leasehold flat owners who have been served a Section 5 Notice...