Are you buying in to the proposed leasehold reforms?

On 11 January 2022, the UK government released a consultation on a number of proposed reforms which are designed to make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to buy their own homes, while reducing the costs involved and making the enfranchisement process clearer and fairer.

The reforms include:

– leaseholders able to extend leases for 990 years as opposed to 90 years with zero ground rent
– government online calculator to determine the costs of extending a lease or buying the freehold
– abolition of marriage value
– ground rent scrapped for retirement properties
– leaseholders can agree to a restriction on future development to avoid development value

However, the devil is in the detail, and there are parties who have expressed concerns that the proposals lack sufficient detail and actually risk causing greater confusion to existing and potential leaseholders.

If you currently own or are thinking of buying a leasehold property, or if you think you are going to be affected by the proposals, you can have your say during the open consultation period which ends on 22 February 2022.

Government aims to make it easier for leaseholders to own their buildings

Leaseholders could find it easier and cheaper to buy the freehold of their building under radical government proposals to create a fairer housing system.