The Leasehold Group of Companies has warned that while the Law Commission’s recommendations for enfranchisement reform could bring comprehensive overhaul of the leasehold system, the “fight” for reform is not over and any legislation is still several years away.

The Law Commission published its report on leasehold enfranchisement reform – Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease – on 21 July 2020.

Spanning 860 pages, the report offers more than 100 recommendations on enfranchisement reform for the Government to consider.

Belinda Walkinshaw, managing partner of Leasehold Law (part of the Leasehold Group), said: “We have taken time to digest the Law Commission’s recommendations and its comprehensive analysis of the inconsistencies and unfair aspects of the existing law, which have denied leaseholders the opportunity to purchase their freeholds or extend their leases for many decades.”

“Leasehold reform is a complex process, and we expect it may be several years before any of these recommendations become law. The fight is far from over and there is no guarantee that the outcome of this process will deliver the reforms needed to make the property market fair for leaseholders.

It is very important to stress that although the Law Commission’s report is the result of a very extensive consultation process, it is only a set of recommendations. These proposals are not law, and the next step will be for the government to decide which recommendations to put forward to Parliament as a draft bill.

“We now call on the government to fulfil its promise to make extending a lease or purchasing a freehold ‘much easier, faster and cheaper’. It is essential that decision makers reform the law as quickly and effectively as possible, as any protracted delay will only work against leaseholders.”