The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, which was introduced to the House of Commons in November 2023, and is currently being reviewed, proposes sweeping changes to legislation on leaseholds.
Below are some of the key changes that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill seeks to introduce.
- Prohibit the sale of new leasehold houses.
- Increase standard lease extension terms for houses and flats to 990 years.
- No ground rent is to be paid after payment of a premium. This follows from the assent of the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 which abolished ground rents for the majority of new residential leasehold properties.
- Establishing a time limit by which landlords must provide the necessary information for a leasehold purchase to the interested buyer.
- Removal of the ‘marriage value’ on expiring leases. Marriage value is the increase in the leasehold’s value upon the lease term’s expiry, representing the added market value of the leasehold property under the new lease. Enable leaseholders with up to 50% non-residential floorspace to buy the freehold or take over the freehold’s management. Currently, to qualify for freehold purchase, only a maximum of 25% of leaseholders’ floor space can be used for non-residential uses.
- Removal of the presumption that leaseholders will pay their landlords’ litigation costs. There is a proposal to remove landlords’ contractual rights under a lease. Concerning landlords, this would mean that their litigation costs could only be recovered by a court order or an application to the court or tribunal.
Currently, the Bill is at the Reporting Stage in the House of Commons. In other words, the Bill has not yet come into effect. However, landlords and leaseholders would benefit from developing a firm understanding of the potentially far-reaching implications of the bill.
For any queries relating to the pending Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, please do not hesitate to contact our experienced litigation law team at Bond Adams LLP Solicitors. You can contact us on 0116 285 8080 or email us at lawyers@bondadams.com.
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