Commonhold: Taking Back Our Future

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Commonhold is an alternative system of property ownership to leasehold. It provides for the freehold ownership of flats and other interdependent buildings.

Each unit (flat) in a building is owned outright, including a share in the common areas. It provides ownership of land rights and control to the individual owners, as commonholders collectively manage and maintain the property through a Commonhold Association which appoints a professional managing agent. 

Commonhold equivalents for resident control are widely used throughout the world, including in Australia, Canada, America, across Europe and Scotland for flatted, mixed-use and multi-block developments.

There is no separate freeholder landlord, no lease and no bafflingly complex and costly leasehold laws to comply with.

"Commonhold is by far the best way to genuinely own a flat. With a great Commonhold Association, comes a great community, one that all residents love to live in, owners love to own in and others want to buy into." A Commonhold owner

With a commonhold community, a properly functioning Commonhold Association and competent lay Directors, your community enjoys:

• High property values
   
• Neighbourly relationships

• Enjoyable, productive meetings 

• Good working relationship with the property manager, seeking and taking their advice

• Accountable property management as managing agent is a service provider appointed by the bill-paying flat owners via the Commonhold Association

• Lower and sustainable property management fees

• Lower major building management fees

• Lower legal fees

• Less litigation or no visits to courts or tribunals because conflictual landlord/tenant relationship removed. Alignment of interest with only flat owners in control

• Timely and effective repairs and maintenance

• High quality of workmanship and solid cost management of repairs and refurbs due to consumer homeowner control

• Upgrades to common property usually banned by anti-improvement clauses in residential leases

• Transparency, good governance and proper financial management
   
• Community events and engagement
   

Happier owners and residents all round!

The Conservative Government have committed to reform and 'reinvigorate' Commonhold, which was first introduced in 2002 in the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act. The Labour Party have committed to end leasehold in their first term of office. Commonhold was originally proposed in a 1987 report by Law Commissioner Lord Trevor Aldridge, with the word having been coined in 1978 by then Conservative MP for Kensington Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams.