Homeowners will receive more rights, power and protections over their homes under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act which has become law today.
The Act will make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to buy their freehold, increase standard lease extension terms to 990 years for houses and flats, and provide greater transparency over service charges. The Act will also remove barriers for leaseholders to challenge their landlords’ unreasonable charges at Tribunal.
It will further ban the sale of new leasehold houses other than in exceptional circumstances, end excessive buildings insurance commissions for freeholders and managing agents, and scrap the requirement for a new leaseholder to have owned their house or flat for two years before they can buy or extend their lease.
The new powers also grant freehold homeowners on private and mixed tenure estates the same rights of redress as leaseholders, and equivalent rights to transparency over their estate charges, and help more leaseholders take over the management of their property if they want to. Leaseholders in some buildings are barred from taking over the management of the site or buying its freehold if more than 25% of its floor space is commercial – such as shops or offices on the ground floor. But this limit will now be increased to 50% to enable more homeowners to access Right to Manage or the right to a collective enfranchisement.
The Act – which has officially received Royal Assent – strengthens existing, and introduces new, consumer rights for homeowners by:
The Act will further benefit leaseholders by:
British Airways has announced the launch of direct flights from London Heathrow to Tbilisi, Georgia, beginning on 30 March 2025. The airline will operate four
Sometimes it's nice to stay in a hotel.Your bed is made for you, you get pampered and you often wake up to a view that's much more beautiful than the one from y
Sometimes it feels like there's a Wetherspoons pub on every street corner – and this latest piece of news proves that they really are everywhere.Travel-mad co
Guidance for Portugal travel from the UK has been changed againMillions of people visit Portugal from the UK each year(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)The Forei