The development of leasehold enfranchisement
Parliament may implement many new laws a year, but this means nothing to the everyday person that does not know their rights. In order to make the law work for you, you need to be able to demand the rights owed to you.
A popular area of the law is leasehold enfranchisement, this right awarded by statute, allows leaseholders to collectively purchase the freehold interest on their block of flats. Although purchasing a freehold might not seem like the most exciting idea in the world, it does have a massive effect of the life of the leaseholder and is therefore worth knowing about.
There are several key legal landmarks in this area, but the issue dates all the way back to the Middle Ages when UK property law began to come about, albeit in a less formal manner than it exists in today. This is the origin of leaseholding and freeholding in which the leaseholders buy the right to live in the property whilst the freeholder retains the financial interest of owning the building.
In modern day one of the most prominant changes has been brought in by the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. This is where the idea of leasehold enfranchisement comes from, and the Act gave people the right to either get an extension of up to 90 years on their lease on flats, or the right to buy the freehold of the vast majority of regular houses. This then had the effect of encouraging people to buy shorter leases in the knowledge that they could extend it if they wanted to.
Moving on, the next really important reform in this area was the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, which expanded the idea of leasehold enfranchisement to the right of tenants to purchase the freehold on their block of flats. This has led to tenants having the ability to join together, providing they meet certain criteria with regards to numbers participating and the length of their remaining leases, to put forward proposals to their landlords to buy them out of the freehold. It is possible for the process to take as little as 4-6 months, however this time can easily be extended if the landlord rejects the application and the case is taken before a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The Tribunals are used as a result of the Housing Act 2004.
About the Author
If you need a Lawyer specialising in leasehold enfranchisement, then contact Bonallack & Bishop today (http://freehold-purchase.co.uk ). If you need advice on your freehold purchase contact one of their lawyers today. Senior partner Tim Bishop is responsible for all major strategic decisions at the firm, which he has grown the firm by 1000% in 13 years. He sees himself as a businessman who owns a law firm.
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