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Commonhold Council is launched

The Commonhold Council will inform the Government on the future of this type of homeownership.

The Ministry of Housing Community and Local Government (MHCLG) issued a press release on 13 May to confirm the launch of the Commonhold Council – an advisory panel of leasehold groups and industry experts who will inform the Government on the future of this type of homeownership.

In January this year the Government issued a press release confirming it was to provide a response to the July 2020 Law Commission recommendations on the reform of commonhold law.

The Commonhold Council is being set up in preparation for the uptake of the collective form of homeownership known as “commonhold”. Models similar to commonhold are used widely around the world allowing homeowners to collectively own the building their flat is in, with a greater say on their building’s management, shared facilities and related costs. It is not yet clear the how the reforms will be put into practice and whether the proposals will become compulsory. However, this week’s press release states the launch of the Commonhold Council will help to make commonhold a reality, and that the widespread introduction of commonhold is envisaged.

The Commonhold Council includes leasehold groups and industry representatives who will bring their expertise on consumer and market matters to assist preparing the housing sector for commonhold. The members of the Commonhold Council have been announced as:

  • Damian Greenish, British Property Federation
  • Paul Broadhead, Building Societies Association
  • Bob Smytherman, Federation of Private Residents’ Associations
  • Kate Faulkner, Home Buying & Selling Group
  • David O’Leary, Home Builders Federation
  • Andrew Bulmer, Institute of Residential Property Management
  • Philip Freedman CBE, QC (Hon), Law Society
  • Sebastian O’Kelly, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
  • Katie Kendrick, National Leasehold Campaign
  • Professor Chris Hodges, University of Oxford
  • Charles Roe, UK Finance

A Technical Support Group, to offer practical, legal and analytical expertise to the Commonhold Council, will also be provided by:

  • Tim Collins, Barratt Developments PLC
  • Professor Nick Hopkins, Law Commission
  • Anthony Essien, LEASE
  • Rob Stevens, Nationwide Building Society
  • Mairead Carroll, RICS
  • Philip Rainey QC, Tanfield Chambers
  • Professor David Clarke, University of Bristol
  • Professor Hazel Easthope, University of New South Wales
  • Dr Sarah Payne, University of Sheffield

The re-invigoration of commonhold therefore continues to move forwards and will be watched with interest. Weightmans recently caught up with Philip Rainey QC (now named as a member of the Technical Support Group for the Commonhold Council) and Nigel Glen CEO of ARMA, in our “In conversation with” video where we discussed the impending Commonhold reforms. Watch the video.

If you need advice in relation to the Commonhold Council, contact us for real estate legal services.

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