#Fleecehold, a play about three amazing women who took on the feudal system of leasehold
Hello,
I know ‘leasehold’ may not sound like the most exciting topic in the world to write a play about but I wrote it nonetheless!
My play #Fleecehold is a political dark comedy centred on three amazing women from the North-West of England who were mis-sold their new homes as leasehold under the Government’s Right to Buy scheme and took on the Government, housebuilders and powerful freeholders to bring about leasehold reform.
Katie Kendrick, a paediatric nurse, Jo Darbyshire, a commercial manager, and Cath Williams, a medical imaging lecturer, were so angry with the housebuilders they set up the National Leasehold Campaign and galvanised support for nearly five million leaseholders living in mostly flats across England and Wales who were fed up with being treated like mugs.
Eventually, the housebuilders who mis-sold their homes were fined by the Competition and Markets Authority and now the sale of new leasehold houses is banned thanks to their efforts, alongside those of other leasehold reform heroes, including charity Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and Folkestone’s own Louie Burns who very sadly passed away in 2020.
Mr Gove has been making noises in recent days about how it is time to outlaw the outdated leasehold system at last which has had a terrible impact on the mental health and pockets of leaseholders living in flats affected by the cladding scandal. I’ve lost count of the number of housing ministers we’ve had under the Tories - I think maybe 16. None of them stick around longer than a few months, something Tory PMs have now aped. But it looks like the Government may just push legislation forward, possibly as a cynical ploy to bring back voters, before their time is up? Is it really happening? Will leasehold be reformed at last? Perhaps we will find out in March in the King’s Speech?
It’s difficult not to be super-cynical with this Government because of their track record and the fact their coffers are bolstered by freeholders and landowners who do not want reform for obvious reasons. England and Wales are the only countries in the world to be fleeced constantly by this feudal system. But if you were to solely listen to the powerful freeholders and managing agents, it’s the best thing since sliced bread and no other system could possibly work, despite the fact that commonhold seems to suit the rest of the world just fine.
Meanwhile in England and Wales, flats continue to be sold as leasehold. Folkestone seafront’s building bonanza is one example where the £1.5 million flats and town houses (er, why the exception on the ban here, I wonder?) are being sold as leasehold including on the Leas Pavilion. Essentially it’s like a long-term rent of the space and should be advertised as such. You don’t own the property and you are at the mercy of managing agents and ridiculous service charges for anything from changing the colour of your front door to dubious extra service charges not to mention major works. Kerching.
With support from the NLC, we’re hoping to get #Fleecehold on for a couple of nights in Folkestone in early summer as a tribute to Louie and all the great work he did during his lifetime, as well as help raise awareness of what a scam the leasehold system is.
Wish us luck and if you’ve had any experiences with leasehold, I’d love to hear about them.