Speaking to the Evening Standard, our founder Harry Scoffin responded to the report and its recommendations:
“Leasehold is a cost of living emergency and leaseholders are sick of being policy lab rats. The London Assembly Housing Committee have listened. We hope this is the last such report before the government brings leasehold to an end, as Labour pledged in its manifesto. Like us, the Committee are calling for the government to expedite commencement of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 ahead of any new commonhold law.”
“It’s significant that a Labour-dominated committee is urging London Mayor Sadiq Khan to improve his lobbying of central government and establish a commonhold taskforce to take into account London’s needs. It’s imperative that leaseholders in mixed-use buildings, for example, aren’t left behind.”
“The Committee also shares our concern that the government’s commonhold white paper focused on solutions for buyers of future builds to the exclusion of those already trapped in leasehold. We need commonhold for the many, not just the new.”
“While the government has refused to publish the responses to the ground rent consultation of January 2024, the London Assembly Housing Committee endorses setting existing ground rents at peppercorn, or zero financial value. A year into power, it’s high time the Labour government publishes its plans on ground rent.”
