The woes of leasehold
SIR – Apartment living in England and Wales is at a competitive disadvantage due mainly to the outdated, overly complex and costly leasehold tenure. It is this, more than anything, that has coloured our view of apartment living (“The ‘experts’ have declared war on detached homes”, Comment, April 2).
The benefits are often undermined by the leasehold ownership regime. It is better to be a short-term rental tenant with the ability to leave a bad landlord behind with your capital intact than a long-term leasehold tenant saddled with mortgage and service-charge debt and locked in with a bad landlord.
Yes, not all leaseholders are ripped off, but unfortunately it appears to be a rite of passage in this country to experience the woes of leasehold. This means that, while naive first-time or overseas buyers can be an easy sell, those of retirement age who have an empty bedroom or two have seen it all before, and often for good reason would not touch a flat – for all its benefits – with a bargepole if leasehold was the price. So much for an efficient property market.
We need more, better quality homes of all types in this country. Then, over their lifetime, those who buy them should have autonomy and control over how they are run, with aligned interests. Why don’t we just let our fellow citizens own a share in the land and enjoy the liberty that comes with real home-ownership via commonhold tenure?
Apartment living can be made to work. Just look north of the border and across the globe, where commonhold systems flourish. No one is asking to adopt our rent-seeking leasehold regime, with faceless freeholders.
I am trapped with a flat due to the building-safety crisis. It is not because houses aren’t desirable in our case. It is because our hands have become tied so we have no free choice. It is literally a case of saving, waiting and hoping.
Joe Douglas
London NW6
SIR – It is often suggested that elderly people should downsize to aid the housing stock, and that the Government should assist them to do this by lessening or abolishing stamp duty (report, April 2).
I live in a three-bed apartment valued in excess of £500,000. If I downsize I will lose the £175,000 allowance that I would get if I passed on this property to my son. At 40 per cent that’s a whopping £70,000 extra death duty. Where’s the incentive?
Kevin Pigden
Colchester, Essex
SIR – Older people used to space don’t want to move to little box rooms.
They still want the large kitchen that is popular these days, to entertain family and friends, and a large bedroom for themselves, but they don’t need four small bedrooms. The only small thing they need is the garden. Building such homes would be an incentive for downsizing.
Francis Moss
Bourne End, Buckinghamshire