Mike4 wrote:TahiPanasDua wrote:I suppose this has been covered before but thank heavens Scotland got rid of feudal leasehold in 2000. It was tidied up in 2004 and in 2010 all remaining long leases were converted to freehold.
It can be done. England should do the same.
TP2.
I'm intrigued! How can a flat be made freehold, given the freehold (in E&W) is the land, as opposed to any building that happens to be on it?
Thanks.
There are plenty of precedents for this in other legal jurisdictions. Scotland has already been mentioned.
One I am familiar with is the "Community of Owners" in Spain. Here, as well as owning a property, an owner effectively owns a share in the common assets of the building and grounds (in the case of flats) or the "urbanisation" (in the case of an estate). Assets might include things like roads, streetlighting, utilities, communal swimming pool, tennis courts, communal gardens, etc. The owners elect, through an annual general meeting, one owner to be the President (a nice foreign word for Chair) who is legally responsible for representing the community. If no one volunteers, one lucky owner gets selected by lottery.
Depending on the community's statutes, there may also Vice Presidents and/or a board of management. Owners may appoint a professional administrator who will arrange for collection of community fees from owners and undertake the routine day-to-day management, such as paying suppliers getting quotes for repairs, etc. The managers of the community (President/administrator/VPs/board) are responsible to owners through the General Meeting. Share of ownership is typically based on floor area and voting on proposals at general meetings requires a majority when counted both as owners and ownership shares. Some types of proposals may require three-fifths majorities or even unanimity. Fees, budgets and statements of account are all presented at the AGM along with other proposals from the board and owners.
The governing Spanish law is called the Horizontal Property Law (google it if interested, there are enough Brits in Spain for plenty of English translations to be found). There are horizontal property regimes in many other places (including the US). England and Wales are something of an exception with the very feudal hangover of freeholds and long leaseholds for domestic property.