In my submissions that have been relayed to the relevant government minister, I have mentioned this issue “which is frequently causing considerable problems for conveyancers when acting with mortgage on the purchase of some residential freehold and leasehold properties.”

In a nutshell, I submitted that—

(i) A landlord should not be able to initiate forfeiture or possession proceedings unless the leaseholder’s lender is notified beforehand and given sufficient time (I propose a minimum of 56 days) to respond. If forfeiture is sought on the grounds of sums unpaid under the lease, such notice would then enable the lender to avoid the consequences of forfeiture by paying the arrears and the sums paid to the leaseholder’s mortgage debt.

(ii) Estate rentcharge payers deserve stronger protections against the peril of a rentcharge lease. For instance, the law could be changed so that before a section 121 lease can be created, (i) the freeholder must be given a prior demand for payment, and (ii) the freeholder and any lender of theirs must be given prior notice of, say, at least 56 days, of the intention to create a section 121 lease).

Best wishes,

Stephen Desmond