Law Commission issues exciting proposals on reforming Right to Manage!

The Law Commission is seeking to help leaseholders “take control over the running of their buildings”, and this week it issued proposals aimed at reforming the right to manage legislation.

Right to Manage (“RTM”) enables leaseholders to form a company and take over the management of their building from their landlord, on a ‘no-fault’ basis. An introduction to the current RTM legislation can be found on the LEASE website here.

RTM is not (currently) available to leaseholders at Canary Riverside because mixed-use estates like ours, whereby the commercial space is >25% of total space, do not meet the RTM criteria. Were RTM available to Canary Riverside, leaseholders would have applied for the right to manage instead of making a ‘section 24 application’*.

Under the Law Commission’s proposals the restrictive criteria that currently prevent estates like Canary Riverside from being able to apply for RTM application would be removed.

This is very good news. However, it needs the support of leaseholders like you to help ensure it is made into law. You can be certain that landlords will be lobbying strongly against it as they do not wish to lose the right to insurance commissions, consent fees and other ‘benefits’ that come from having management responsibility.

A summary of the Law Commission’s proposals can be found here, and the full consultation document here. The consultation ends on April 30th, and we would urge Canary Riverside leaseholders to respond in support of the proposal to remove the 25% rule, and to maker it easier for multi-block estates. RTM is the least-complicated (and least-costly) method for leaseholders to take control over the running of their properties.

The Law Commission recognises that landlords and leaseholders (‘tenants’, as we are in the eyes of the law) do not share the same priorities and objectives, and that the current system whereby leaseholders like us have zero say in how our properties are maintained, and have to seek (and pay for) permission from the landlord to make alterations, let, sell etc, is wrong.

*the latest update to leaseholders concerning the tribunal-appointed manager can be found here.