Philip Crawford (@Davis7Philip) is a leaseholder, investor, and (for over 30 years) professional manager of UK residential blocks – so he can see most of the angles.

Here he gives a snap, 15-line intro to the problems of leasehold. We are hoping he will develop this into a fuller article outlining the disaster scenarios which the present situation can give rise to – and how they need to be corrected.

#Leasehold101

Leasehold is a form of ‘limited ownership’ – for a term of years, after which all rights revert to the head owner.

      The only exception is if the lease is ‘extended’, which will always be for a price.

This system of ‘ownership’ has been called ‘feudal’ – it is over 400 years old, and today needs urgent reform.

   Five basic problems can be summarised:

1.   Owners have no control of how the money that becomes their service charge is spent.

2.   Property Management companies are not regulated. Regulation would make them accountable.

3.   Management companies are often limited companies, thus have to follow the Companies Act 2006.

4.   The government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service advises on the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, not the Companies Act 2006.

5.   The First-tier Land Tribunal is costly and generally not within the financial reach of average leaseholders.

There are other regulatory or ombudsman bodies, which lack either teeth or remit.

In a fuller article, I will discuss all these aspects, and horrific situations that can arise from them.

Philip Crawford – Property manager, leaseholder, investor