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Housing Associations and other social landlords fear they could be exposed to a legal minefield, and have called on the government to come clean on when it will bring in its latest reforms.

A group of leading shared ownership and leasehold management experts met last week to discuss the wide-ranging implications of a key laws governing access rights, ownership rights, consultation and management agreements for leaseholders.

The Chartered Institute of Housing Home Ownership conference in Brighton heard that there were still too many grey areas in legislation concerning shared leasehold owners, especially since only parts of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (CLARA) had been put in place.

Sovereign Housing Association leasehold services manager Steve Schollar, who chaired the meeting, said afterwards: “The reforms were supposed to iron out vagaries, and clarify the rights and responsibilities of both the shared owner and the landlord. But four years on, and we are still waiting for guidance, and this is clearly causing headaches for leasehold managers across the country.”

With the social housing sector delivering a wider range of shared equity products, and signs that the government wishes to expand this area further, leasehold managers are now hoping for a clear steer from Whitehall, to avoid pitfalls in the future.

Mr Schollar added : “What emerged from the conference was the desire of practitioners for clarity, and a quick response from government to the report of the social sector working group could aid that.

“Leasehold managers are also keen to see licensing bought in for their profession along with a requirement for continuing professional training and development.

Published 12 March 2007
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