The Law Commission has put forward a radical proposal to simplify a complex, expensive and stressful freehold buying process.

Traditionally, houses and flats were sold leasehold to ensure that obligations to contribute towards communal repairs were enforceable. Old fashioned leaseholds typically had the ground rent as being a nominal amount only.

In recent years, however, landlords have imposed higher ground rents, and concern has been raised in relation to unfair practices in the management of flats and increasingly high service charges. In some cases homeowners have been unable to sell their properties because of this, and mortgage lenders have refused to lend.

To deal with this, the Law Commission has recently announced proposals to make it easier for leaseholders to buy the freehold of their homes. The Law Commission is a statutory independent body comprised of learned lawyers. It aims to ensure that the law is as fair, modern, simple and cost-effective as possible. It makes recommendations to Parliament for changing the law.

The Law Commission proposes to:

• simplify the regime by introducing one set of criteria for buying the freehold, regardless of whether the property is a house or a flat

• allow leaseholders of houses on an estate to collectively purchase the freehold of that estate

• reduce the price that leaseholders pay by changing the formulas used to calculate the price to be laid to the landlord

• remove the requirement that leaseholders must have owned the lease for two years before they can buy the freehold

The Law Commission will publish its consultation paper in September 2018. Watch this space…

  • David Marsden is a partner in the commercial property team at award-winning law firm VWV, with offices on Clarendon Road, Watford.