LEASE’s 21st anniversary
By Anthony Essien, Chief Executive of Leasehold Advisory Service
March 2015
On 4th February 1994 the Leasehold Enfranchisement Advisory Service began its work, just a few short months after the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 commenced. That Act has proved very influential through its various provisions covering enfranchisement for flats and houses, lease extensions for flats and Codes of Practice.
To remind you of those bygone times: in 1994 John Major was Prime Minister, the Channel Tunnel was about to open, Brazil would go on to win the World Cup that summer and your writer still had hair. However, valuation principles like relativity and marriage value were essentially unknown; and commonhold a mere whisper in the halls of what was then the Lord Chancellor’s Department.
The ensuing years though have seen plenty of activity with no fewer than six pieces of legislation with an impact on residential leasehold; 17 consultations and discussion papers; dozens of regulations; and five changes of name for our English sponsor department; but just one for our Welsh sponsors and us.
Unlike most 21-year olds, we look very much at the horizon in our case, to shape what we are doing for our customers. However, looking back at all that legislation and other activity I mentioned above, it is clear that leasehold can be complex and difficult. Perhaps, even more so now as we understand there are more properties than we had previously appreciated, over 4 million. It’s a subject that can cause homeowners tremendous stress when things are not going well.
Leasehold is fundamentally about people’s homes and so it matters; the problems of these homeowners matter and it is vital that LEASE helps inform them and helps solve their problems. Indeed, the provision of information and advice about the leasehold system underpins many of the recommendations made by the Competition and Markets Authority in its recent market study. Suffice it to say that LEASE is doing all it can to help and we will continue to do so.
