After years in the wilderness, servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leaseholders have been promised long overdue reforms to the way the system works. Earlier this week, the government released its latest consultation, Implementing reforms to the servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leasehold system in England, which sets out to tackle a range of problems being faced by servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leasehold homeowners.
In 2017, the government finally recognised the need to improve fairness and transparency in the servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leasehold market and pledged to close some of the loopholes that harm the consumer. This was followed by a consultation last December on the sale of servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leasehold houses and onerous ground rents. At Ringley, we believe close scrutiny of the servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leasehold system is long overdue.
This latest consultation paper sets out the Government?s four key areas of reform and is asking for feedback on these points:

• A ban on unjustified use of servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leasehold for new houses


• Reducing future ground rents to a nominal (affordable) sum


• Ensuring that the charges paid by freeholders towards maintenance of communal areas are fairer and more transparent, as at the moment they do not have the same rights as servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness of the service charges levied and the standards of the services provided.


• Improving the system for selling servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leasehold properties


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  In the consultation paper, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government says, ?Now I intend to deliver our promises?. Let?s hope he will prove to be as good as his word.
  To read the consultation in detail, go to https://bit.ly/2yAE9q4 If you have strong views on how the servicechargesorted.co.uk/blogs/remedies-for-leaseholders-with-an-absentee-landlord'>leasehold system could be improved and would like to respond, the submission deadline is 26 November.