Pioneering property developers Hopton Build are calling for action to stop innocent home-buyers being duped by bad leasehold deals and have joined the fight to change the law.
Stewart Moxon says they are backing the Law Commission which has released a consultation paper today (Monday 10 December 2018) on reforming commonhold law to make it a more viable option for home builders.
Law Commissions Consultation on Commonhold
Hopton Build is already leading the way as the only known developer currently offering freehold apartments within a commonhold scheme at his latest development in Liversedge, West Yorkshire.
Hopton Build Director Stewart explained: “Leasehold is an archaic agreement which lacks transparency for home-buyers who don’t realise they are NOT actually buying their new home outright.
“We are saying enough-is-enough and putting our ethics into practice by building flats with freehold sale agreements – where the buyer buys the property and through a commonhold arrangement shares control of the communal areas, with no costly middle-men and extortionate ground-rent!”
Stewart backs Law Commissioner Professor Nick Hopkins who is also calling for current leaseholders to be able to purchase the freehold or extend the lease of their home and said: “The current system is complex, slow and expensive and it’s failing homeowners. Many feel that they have to pay twice to own their home.” [1]
Secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold reform, the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership [2] and Facebook’s National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) [3] are also leading the call for urgent leasehold law reform.
Stewart and partner Neil Turton are proud to be at the national forefront of building a fairer future for homeowners, adding:
“If we are able to build and sell flats as freehold why can’t the larger national building companies?”
Their five-apartment project in West Yorkshire is laying the foundations for a fair deal for Yorkshire residents and he hopes builders country-wide will follow his lead. These apartments offer buyers a freehold for the property and a commonhold arrangement where the home-owners share ownership of the communal areas, such as car parking and gardens.
