Are we moving towards significant reforms in enfranchisement? Mark Chick examines the key points from the Law Commission’s recent consultation paper
The Law Commission’s consultation paper on proposed reforms to enfranchisement legislation, published on 20 September, runs to 564 pages and asks for views on 135 questions relating to the proposed changes, some of which are quite radical. A copy of the consultation, Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease , which closes on 20 November 2018 can be found here.
The proposed reforms, some of which are outlined below, make sweeping changes to the whole process of enfranchisement and also propose radical reform to the basis of valuation aiming ‘reduce the price’ paid on enfranchisement. There are also suggestions of a fixed or no-costs regime for landlords, and so the proposed changes are therefore in essence political as they seek to reverse the emphasis between landlords and tenants.
The most sweeping suggestion from a technical point of view is the suggestion that there should be a single scheme of enfranchisement rights applying to any residential ‘unit’, be it a flat
