History in the making
With a mammoth battle ahead
It’s been a rollercoaster last few days with Rishi don’t own an anorak Sunak calling an election. Hoorah!
But then I started panicking about what would happen to the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill 2023? Was it going to die a death before being picked up by Labour, who look set to win, and who have committed to commonhold, at some point in the future?
The odds of the Bill ending up in the wash up, along with many other well deserving Bills, didn’t look good. However, last minute it was pushed through on Friday evening and has now become law despite the pathetic filibustering of several Lords.
During the debate it was sickening listening to these men wasting valuable time by trying to insert amendments and whine on repeatedly about ‘unwarranted interference in property rights' and 'not enough scrutiny' around the Bill and how unfair it was to ‘rush it through’ when this was the first they’d heard of it. Their attitudes were so similar to my super-entitled characters Lord Asset-Class and Earl of Clare in Fleecehold, I half expected them to spit out the words ‘peasants’ and ‘commoners’. However, I’m deeply grateful for them providing some new lines for the play.
Credit to all those Lords including Lord Kennedy and Baroness Claire Fox for not putting up with any of their nonsense and pointing out that that the Bill was ECHR compliant, has been meticulously scrutinised over the last FIVE years and there had been plenty of debates about it had they wished to attend.
The Bill becoming law is an amazing feat for all the leasehold campaigners including the National Leasehold Campaign whose journey Fleecehold is based on. I’m constantly in awe of Katie, Jo and Cath’s tenacity in the face of grief, Tory donors’ deep pockets and trolls. As the late leasehold reformer Louie Burns said, he along with the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and other reformers had always been met with ridicule when they tried to push for reform. But all that changed when Katie, Jo and Cath began their Facebook campaign. It just goes to show what we can achieve if we all stick together to fight for a common cause.
Disappointingly, the Bill didn’t include capping ground rent, a massive problem for those leaseholders trapped in flats they’re unable to sell. Nor does it deal with the terrible mess of the cladding scandal. But it does help leaseholders trapped in flats with low leases by abolishing marriage value and it forces freeholders and managing agents to be transparent about service charges. It is the beginning of the end. The battle for commonhold continues…
In the meantime, I’ve been rewriting Fleecehold to reflect the fantastic news and incorporate some of the feedback we had from last year’s performances in Folkestone and London.
Please come and see the NLC’s David versus Goliath journey in Fleecehold the play. It’s at Folkestone Live at The Quarterhouse Theatre on July 13 and then at The Cockpit, London from August 22 to 24 as part of the Camden Fringe.
