News

Wednesday 17 July 2019

Deciphering your residential lease

In this article, Louise Uphill Senior Associate at Blake Morgan and ALEP member provides guidance on how leaseholders can get to grips with their leases and highlights key clauses that should not be ignored.

Friday 5 July 2019

Clarity is key – ALEP's assessment of the Government’s response to HCLG Select Committee report on leasehold reform

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has reviewed the Government’s response (published on 3.7.2019) to the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Select Committee Report on leasehold reform released earlier this year.

Monday 1 July 2019

And they’re off! ALEP night at the races is the winning ticket!

Last week ALEP held its highly-anticipated Night at the Races at Kempton Park Racecourse.  

More than 70 member firms and VIPs were at the heart of the action in the private Desert Orchid suite which provided fantastic views overlooking the racecourse. The evening proved to be one of ALEP’s most popular networking events where guests enjoyed a night of betting, fabulous food and fizz. A few lucky ALEP members got lucky and left with their winnings in hand!  

ALEP’s Night at the Races was made possible thanks to sponsors Kerry London, Anthony Gold Solicitors.

Friday 28 June 2019

ALEP welcomes Government’s reforms to leasehold system in England

 Mark Chick, ALEP Director, and Partner and Bishop & Sewell, said:

"The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has reviewed Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) summary document in response to the technical consultation ‘Implementing reforms to the leasehold system in England’, published on 27th June 2019.

“Leasehold enfranchisement has been in the spotlight now for many months, and with the furore surrounding this issue it is crucial that leaseholders are well informed and educated. ALEP welcomes the opportunity for sector-wide reform and clarification as set out in the MHCLG’s response paper.

“The consultation’s aim was to tackle exploitative practices in the leasehold sector. In his ministerial foreword, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP states:  I am going to make this easier, so people can make the biggest purchase of their lives with confidence, with transparency and fairness at every stage for leaseholders and freeholders alike.”

Wednesday 5 June 2019

Popularity of AirBnB soars – but be sure to check your lease agreement

ALEP is pleased to feature this guest article by Sarah Taylor, Senior Property Disputes Associate at  ALEP member firm, Royds Withy King. 

In this article Sarah Taylor, Senior Property Disputes Associate at Royds Withy King and member of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP), discusses the hidden pitfalls leaseholders could fall into if they rent their property through AirBnB.

Wednesday 22 May 2019

ALEP members bring their A Game to Warley Park for Annual Golf Day

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has hosted its popular annual Golf Day. 30 seasoned golfers and novices alike enjoyed navigating the 27-hole course of Warley Park Gold Club in Essex.

Tuesday 16 April 2019

‘It’s all up in the air’ - What is the impact of the Upper Tribunal’s recent decision in Queen Court?

The Upper Tribunal has handed tenants an important victory concerning ‘common parts’ including roof spaces and airspace leases in leasehold enfranchisement.

Monday 8 April 2019

ALEP announces appointment of John Midgley to its Executive Committee

We are pleased to annouce that  ALEP has appointed John Midgley of Seddons as a new member of our Executive Committee.

The ALEP Executive Committee deals with the day-to-day running of ALEP, and other members include Anna Bailey and Mark Chick. John’s appointment follows the tragic death of ALEP co-founder Alex Greenslade in December, which left a vacancy on the ALEP board. Already a serving member of ALEP’s Advisory Committee, John was well placed to make the move to its Executive Committee.

John is an esteemed figure in the leasehold enfranchisement sector. He is a partner in the Property Disputes team at Seddons and heads up the specialist Leasehold Enfranchisement team. Regularly named as one of the sector’s most influential professionals, John also writes for specialist publications on a variety of enfranchisement and landlord and tenant issues. A notable achievement of John’s was being instrumental in pioneering the Leasehold Reform Amendment Act 2014 and he continues to work with parliament on issues impacting the leasehold sector.

Anna Bailey ALEP Co-founder and Director said: “John has a comprehensive understanding of the Association and how it operates, and we are delighted to welcome him to the ALEP Executive Committee. We now have a vacancy on the Advisory Committee which will be filled by election at the next AGM.

 “John is a great asset to ALEP, and we all look forward to working with him in his new position.”

Monday 11 March 2019

ALEP's response to Law Commission Consultation Paper: Reinvigorating Commonhold: the alternative to leasehold ownership

Consultation Paper: Reinvigorating Commonhold: the alternative to leasehold ownership

This is an open response from the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (‘ALEP’) to the Law Commission’s Consultation Paper No.241 on commonhold (‘the Consultation’).

ALEP welcomes and recognises the work being done by the Law Commission to recommend reforms to the current commonhold system that will make it a viable alternative to leasehold.

ALEP represents practitioners specialising in enfranchisement and as the Law Commission may be aware, ALEP chose Commonhold as its topic for its Spring Lecture in February 2018.

Because ALEP represents practitioners specialising in enfranchisement, we have directed our comments in this open response in the main to areas that touch and concern enfranchisement as these are the areas that are likely to be of most relevance to our members.

ALEP members represent both landlords and tenants, and in presenting the organisation’s view it should be borne in mind that ALEP itself is apolitical and represents a wide breadth of members.

We have requested that our members respond directly to the Consultation and we understand that many members of ALEP have submitted direct responses.

Friday 4 January 2019

ALEP response to Law Commission's consultation on leasehold home ownership - January 2019

ALEP has penned an open letter to the Law Commission outlining the Association’s collective response to its consultation ‘Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease’.

As an organisation ALEP is apolitical and given that the Consultation’s terms of reference are political in part, there is a limit to what the Association can say by way of a specific response to each of the points raised in the Consultation. That said, views of members who attended the 9 November consultation forum were collated to form ALEP’s feedback to the Law Commission.

The response can be found here.