Organisations from across the legal, property, and mortgage sectors have called on Michael Gove, to implement measures previously announced by the government which would improve the lives of many leaseholders.

An open letter to Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, has asked his department to bring into law the measures already announced or supported by the government over the last two to three years.

These include the implementation of the Law Commission Reports in leasehold enfranchisement, Right to Manage, and Commonhold, as well as previously announced legislation on Leasehold Reform, reasonable fees and timescales for administrative activities, and managed freehold, which has yet to make the statute book.

The organisations to have signed the letter include the Conveyancing Association, The Society of Licensed Conveyancers, the Property Redress Scheme, IMLA, RPSA, PropertyMark, Hunters, Property Information Products, Love Surveying, The Guild of Property Professionals and ULS Technology.

According to this group, further delay will lead to further consumer detriment, “given the exploitation [of leaseholders] continues and increases with every passing day”, the letter argued.

The letter calls the measures already announced “generally non-contentious” and has urged the government to follow up quickly on the Leasehold Reform Bill – which aims to limit ground rents on long residential leases.

ULS Technology director of conveyancing transformation, Angela Hesketh, said that the need for reform is “well overdue” and has left consumers “exposed to unfair practices”, while Chairperson of the Society of Licensed Conveyancers, Simon Law, suggested that bringing the measures together in a single document “provides the basis for coherent reform.”

“We are simply calling on the government to fulfil its obligations in this area,” added director of delivery at the Conveyancing Association, Beth Rudolf.

“By doing this we can ensure leaseholders can set in motion parts of the property-owning democracy that are simply not open to many of them, such as selling their properties or securing a mortgage.

“Plus, we can move towards a much fairer system for all – the hard work has effectively been done and it is now time to move these measures through to their natural legislative conclusion where they will make a huge difference.”

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