News and Articles

"Contentious enfranchisement" webinar

05/10/2022

Mari Knowles was joined by barrister James Fieldsend, of Tanfield Chambers, to host a 3 hour webinar for industry professionals on behalf of MBL Seminars Limited today. The webinar took an in depth look at the challenges faced by enfranchisement lawyers in the current landscape. It included a look at the implications of the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 and the Building Safety Act 2022 on enfranchisement, together with complex valuation issues. The session will be rerun on 05 December 2022 and 01 February 2023. The booking form can be found here.

Leasehold Manchester 2022: "commonhold versus leasehold"

03/10/2022

Mari Knowles was joined by barrister Rebecca Cattermole, of Tanfield Chambers to host a debate on “commonhold versus leasehold” at News on the Block’s Annual property conference in Manchester. The session involved a healthy debate with managing agents and other professionals on which tenure is the better system for multi-unit buildings. Further information on the event can be found here.

LMP: November events

30/09/2022

Matt Lewis, founder and director of Leasehold Management Professionals has confirmed details of three new property management events. The events will be hosted in Bristol, Brighton and Bournemouth throughout November. The events are always very well attended and include high profile speakers. Whilst the conference topics are management focused, they are also a useful source of information for lawyers, surveyors, valuers and other professionals. Tickets can be found here.

FCA insurance report published

21/09/2022

Following the release of an interim report in June (see below), the FCA has now released their full report. The investigation looked at insurance products for multi-occupancy buildings, which led to the FCA making various findings in their final report. The full report can be found here. The Secretary of State of Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities has formally responded to this report. The letter can be found here.

Welcome to Charlotte!

01/09/2022

We are delighted to be joined by Charlotte Clarke who joins us from a firm in Brighton and Hove. Charlotte specialises in enfranchisement claims where leaseholders are simultaneously buying and selling, using Charlotte’s extensive background in residential conveyancing. Charlotte and Mari previously worked together at a firm in Brighton and are thrilled to be joining forces once again.  

Building Safety: call for evidence

22/08/2022

The Building Safety Act 2022 set out detailed changes to the safety aspects of high-rise buildings. The Government has now launched a call for evidence relating specifically to in-scope buildings which are leaseholder-owned. The call for evidence closes on 14 November 2022 and the link to it can be found here.

Welcome to Declan!

26/07/2022

The team welcomes Declan, who joins as an assistant in the residential conveyancing department. Declan is keen to become a solicitor and looks forward to training with the team as he moves towards his goal. Declan will be based in our head office in Wales.  

August office closure

15/07/2022

Following the success of last year's August closure, we have decided to do the same this year. The week allows our team to reset before the busy Autumn season. Our office will be shut from 9am on Monday 22 August and will re-open after the Bank Holiday at 10am on Tuesday 30 August. We thank you in advance for your understanding.

Dona invited to speak on BBC Moneybox

04/07/2022

Dona was invited to speak on the various leasehold reforms by the BBC for their Saturday editiion of Moneybox. Dona's segment runs from around the 20-minute mark, and the link to the programme can be found here. Dona is a regular speaker and we look forward to the next one!

Matt L attends APPG for leasehold and commnhold reform

30/06/2022

Matt Lewis was invited to the summer's APPG for leasehold and commonhold reforms, which included speeches from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Lord Greenhalgh. The event was very well attended, with many interesting questions about the Government's plans for leasehold and commonhold reforms.

Matt wins Young Lawyer of the Year award

30/06/2022

We are very proud to announce that Matt Hollamby has won the prestige "Young Lawyer of the Year" at the Enfranchisement and Right to Manage Awards. The awards ceremony was hosted in Park Lane, and attended by many of our fellow professionals. The award is well-deserved, following a string of successful cases by Matt. A full list of winners can be found here.

Building safety update

10/06/2022

It has been quite the week (and month) for Building Safety. It started on 01 June 2022 with the release of various updated guidance notes, including updated "fire safety guidance" for new build high-rise buildings (here). This was followed by the release of the draft statutory instrument: The Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections)(Information etc)(England) Regulations 2022 (here), which purports to strengthen leaseholder rights in affected buildings. We then heard from both Boris Johnson and Michael Gove on Thursday with various commitments to leasehold reform (albeit not specific to building safety). The week ended with the launch of a public consultation, which seeks views on the definition of buildings which will fall into scope of the new building regulations. The consultation can be found here and closes on 21 July 2022. By way of reminder, the timings for implementation of the Building Safety Act can be found here. For those keen to know more on the Act itself, helpful notes on interpretation can be found here.

Congratulations to Matt Hollamby!

07/06/2022

Our very own Matt Hollamby has been shortlisted for "Young Lawyer of the Year" at this year's Enfranchisement and Right to Manage Awards. Matt has been a huge asset to our team since joining us in 2020, and being shortlisted is very much deserved. We wish Matt the best of luck at the awards ceremony, which takes place in London on 30 June 2022. Details can be found here.

Welcome to Zaiba!

06/06/2022

We are delighted to welcome Zaiba to our team. Zaiba joins us from a firm in Worthing, and will be working alongside Emily and Dona. Zaiba is keen to learn more about landlord and tenant, and we are very pleased that she agreed to join us. Zaiba's profile can be found here.

FCA buildings insurance review

17/05/2022

The FCA has been reviewing insurance products for multiple occupancy residentiai buildings and released an interim report. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has issued an initial response, which references high premiums paid by leaseholders in blocks of flats. The full report is to follow. In the meantime, the Department's response to the FCA's initial review can be found here.

Queen's Speech - leasehold and commonhold reform #2

11/05/2022

The Queen's Speech is used to announce proposed bills which the current government plans to introduce during that parliamentary session. Last year's speech included proposals to ban ground rents, which then led to the (now) Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022. Officials had previously indicated a third session bill for the leasehold and commonhold reform work - 2022 to 2023 being the third session. Whilst mention has been made of the reforms on pages 69 and 70 of the notes, this is not a committment to a full bill. The full document can be reviewed here.

Commonhold library launch

29/04/2022

We are delighted to launch our new commonhold library. The new library complements our established leasehold library, which contains a range of advice notes from service charge disputes, major works, and finance, to funding non-participant shares on a collective enfranchisement. Our commonhold advice notes are designed for all - prospective commonholders, managing agents, and landlords. The topics range from buying and selling, commonhold finance, the basics and dispute resolution. Please contact us for more information.

Building Safety Bill receives Royal Assent

28/04/2022

The much-debated and controversial Building Safety Bill received Royal Assent today. The Bill follows the voluntary pledge which seeks to address some of the historic remediation issues. We have yet to see some of the detail regarding implementation of the Bill, which will follow in secondary legilsation. The Bill can be found here. The Government also has a series of useful factsheets which can be found here. At the time of writing, these were last updated on 05 April 2022, so may not incorporate some of the final amendments, but which we assume will be updated in due course.

Commencement of Ground Rent legislation

21/04/2022

The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 08 February 2022. The Government has now confirmed that the legislation will commence on 30 June 2022. The ban will affect all new leases (although there will be a delayed timeframe for retirement leases), and have some impact on current leases where leaseholders seek to extend their leases. The Government's full press release can be found here. We have also prepared our own advice note for our existing clients which is available upon request.

Queen's Speech - leasehold and commonhold reform

08/04/2022

The House of Commons library is a very useful source of information for the Government's ongoing intentions. The latest update lists potential issues and bills which may be referenced in the Queen's Speech on 10 May 2022. The list is not confirmation or a guarantee, but simply an indication of the many issues which might be mentioned. Inevitably, not all of those topics will make it. We are pleased to note that "leasehold and commonhold reform" is on the list, following many years of talk of reforms. The full update can be found here.

Update your Will Week!

28/03/2022

This week is "Update your Will Week", an event launched by Solicitors for the Elderly. The purpose of the week is to encourage people across the UK to review and update their wills. Their data suggests how infrequently people update their wills which can later lead to issues. Full details can be found here.

Commercial rent arrears

24/03/2022

Whilst we are predominantely a residential property firm, the cross-over with commercial property law is inevitable, especially in cases involving mixed-use premises. The pandemic hit many commercial businesses hard, which led to temporary measures being brought in by the Government to assist commercial tenants who owed rent to their landlords. These temporary measures have now been replaced by the Commerical Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022, which received Royal Assent on 24 March 2022. The bill can be found here. This is complemented by an existing commerical rent best practice code which can be found here. The full press release can be found here.

Further CMA update on ground rents

18/03/2022

The CMA has issued a further update, this time to confirm that 15 businesses have voluntarily agreed to rectify potentially onerous ground rent clauses, without any admission of liability or wrong-doing. This is an important step forward in the investigation as it means many more leaseholders will now receive assistance under the scheme. The full announcement can be read here. 

Full house at LMP conference with high profile speakers

17/03/2022

It was a delight to see a full house at the recent “Leasehold Management Professionals” conference held in Bristol today. The conference saw a range of eminent speakers, with an emphasis on the ongoing building safety reforms. Our Matt Lewis, one of the directors of LMP, comments “It is really encouraging to see so many attendees at the conference. Building safety is a difficult topic given the ongoing reforms at the moment, and our speakers really helped identify key points for our agents. We are particularly grateful to all of our speakers and event sponsors for making the event such a success.”. The next conference will be held in Bournemouth on 28 April 2022, and details can be found here..

Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022

11/02/2022

The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 08 February 2022. The Government has confirmed that the Act will commence within the next six months. In the same release, the Government has also confirmed that further leasehold reform will follow, although no indication has been given on the timings. The full release can be read here.