Commonhold Council

The Commonhold Council was established to advise the government on the implementation of a reformed commonhold regime.

The Commonhold Council was appointed by the previous government and these appointments have now expired.

The ministerially chaired Commonhold Council, supported by a Technical Support Group, advised the government on the implementation of a reformed commonhold regime and bring forward solutions to prepare homeowners and the market for the widespread take up of commonhold for new supply of flats.

In particular, the Council was responsible for advising on:

a) Implementing the government’s vision for the widespread take up of commonhold and DLUHC’s development of a roadmap of activities and transitional arrangements to deliver this aim;

b) Identifying the necessary steps to prepare the market (lending, development, insurance, valuation, conveyancing, home buying and selling and property management) and to deliver supporting market infrastructure;

c) Supporting consumers to understand their needs and raise awareness and promote commonhold (as well as safeguarding the interests of existing leaseholders), and to develop the tools, rules and capacity to enable greater homeowner led management; and

d) Ensuring commonhold can provide a workable alternative to leasehold in as many settings as possible – including large and complex sites, and the tenure is future proofed to take account of changing requirements for buildings such as building safety and energy efficiency measures.

Membership

The membership of the Commonhold Council was:

  • Damian Greenish, British Property Federation
  • Paul Broadhead, Building Societies Association
  • Bob Smytherman, Federation of Private Residents’ Associations
  • Kate Faulkner, Home Buying & Selling Group
  • David O’Leary, Home Builders Federation
  • Andrew Bulmer, The Property Institute
  • Philip Freedman CBE, QC (Hon), Law Society
  • Martin Boyd, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
  • Katie Kendrick, National Leasehold Campaign
  • Professor Chris Hodges, University of Oxford
  • Charles Roe, UK Finance

The membership of the Technical Support Group was:

  • Professor Nick Hopkins, Law Commission
  • Anthony Essien, LEASE
  • Rob Stevens, Nationwide Building Society
  • Mairead Carroll, RICS
  • Philip Rainey QC, Tanfield Chambers
  • Professor David Clarke, University of Bristol
  • Nigel Glen, Emeria

Terms of Reference

  • The government wants to extend the benefits of freehold ownership to many more homeowners.
  • The principal aim of the Commonhold Council will be to advise the government on the implementation of a reformed commonhold regime and to bring forward solutions to prepare homeowners and the market for the widespread take up of commonhold for new supply of flats.
  • In particular, the Council will be responsible for advising on:
    a) Implementing the government’s vision for the widespread take up of commonhold and DLUHC’s development of a roadmap of activities and transitional arrangements to deliver this aim;
    b) Identifying the necessary steps to prepare the market (lending, development, insurance, valuation, conveyancing, home buying and selling and property management) and to deliver supporting market infrastructure;
    c) Supporting consumers to understand their needs and raise awareness and promote commonhold (as well as safeguarding the interests of existing leaseholders), and to develop the tools, rules and capacity to enable greater homeowner led management;
    d) Ensuring commonhold can provide a workable alternative to leasehold in as many settings as possible – including large and complex sites, and the tenure is future proofed to take account of changing requirements for buildings such as building safety and energy efficiency measures.
  • The Council will be supported by a Technical Support Group. This group will provide additional technical advice to the Council members, provide input into papers and advice notes feeding into Council meetings, be invited to participate in subject specific subgroups and may be invited to attend full Council meetings.
  • Subgroups on specific topics may be convened and invite input from wider stakeholder groups beyond the membership of the Council and Technical Support Group. In particular, this will mean working with existing and future homeowners.
  • The Council’s proceedings will be private to its members and their organisations - as well as members and organisations of the Technical Support Group. Council and Technical Support Group members and their organisations should not divulge the contents of their deliberations outside of the Council.
  • Council and Technical Support Group members may only be appointed to the Council by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
  • All members so appointed must declare at the start of each meeting any personal or family interests - financial or otherwise - that might reasonably be thought to have capacity to influence their deliberation on the implementation of commonhold.
  • The government may consult more widely on proposals developed by the Council and may task Council members with assisting in such an exercise.
  • The work of the Council will focus on implementation of commonhold for new housing supply in the first instance but will consider issues around conversion to commonhold at a later stage.
  • Policy matters, including the response to the Law Commission’s commonhold report and related future legislation, will be considered separately by DLUHC, unless the Chair wishes to test a policy decision at their discretion.
  • Where advice of the Council may rely on a policy decision by DLUHC and a given policy decision is not yet finalised, DLUHC will seek to provide a working assumption to Council members on the understanding that a final decision may be subject to change.
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