The Leasehold Reform Act 1967
c 88 is an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, which concerns
English land law
English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal ...
and
compulsory purchase
Compulsion may refer to:
* Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so.
* Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by ...
. A government bill, the law remains largely intact. It was passed by both Houses and had been tabled by ministers of the
Labour government, 1964–1970
Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 October 1964 and formed the first Wilson ministry, a Labour government, which held office with a thin majority between 1964 and 1966. In an attempt t ...
.
Provisions and subsequent amendments
The Act grants the right to long leaseholders of houses let at low and moderately low rents to buy their homes compulsorily from their landlords at a fair price.
Initially the 1967 Act applied only to homes below these rateable values: £400 in London and £200 p.a. elsewhere (thus targeting low-to-middle income homeowners); the reform coincided with lower wages becoming less of a bar to access to loans from major
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
lenders.
The Act has been amended many times to expand these rights, to homeowners having higher rateable values.
Background
English law and lending eschews the concept of
flying freehold entire properties, such as flats. The solution was to set up a standard model of any flat ownership based on
landlord and tenant
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a ...
but which is not seen in much of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
where a more
commonhold
Commonhold is a system of property ownership in England and Wales. It involves the indefinite freehold tenure of part of a multi-occupancy building (typically a flat) with shared ownership of and responsibility for common areas and services. It ha ...
system of ownership is common, as long-term flat owners wish to gain a greater than 'transient' or 'time-barred' interest in their home. Such long leases were already in use in housing, as before purpose-built apartments were built, an aristocratic or other large capitalist landlord could co-steer the successful, competitive development of their urban estates; these took the initial form of "building leases" then leases to allow the flexibility of the landlord deciding whether to create apartments, extensions, shorter-term lettings all of which liberties have been tempered by law or by
secured lending codes to enhance the status of long-term lessees.
The dozen or so private great collections of reversions continue the landlord-tenant relation with piecemeal reductions, across the
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
grander residential zones, in the
leasehold valuation tribunal
A leasehold valuation tribunal (LVT) was a statutory tribunal in England which determined various types of landlord and tenant dispute involving residential property in the private sector. An LVT consisted of a panel of three; one with a backgroun ...
s referred to as "Prime Central London".
See also
*
Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002
The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (c.15) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced commonhold, a new way of owning land similar to the Australian strata title or the American condominium, into English and Welsh ...
*
Compulsory purchase
Compulsion may refer to:
* Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so.
* Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by ...
*''
Director of Buildings and Lands v Shun Fung Ironworks Ltd'' [1995
UKPC 7*
English land law
English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal ...
*''Re Ellenborough Park'' [1955
EWCA Civ 4 [1956] Ch 131
References
{{reflist, 2
*K Gray and SF Gray, ''Land Law'' (7th edn 2011) Ch 11
*K Gray and S Gray, ‘Private Property and Public Propriety’, in J McLean (ed), ''Property and the Constitution'' (Hart 1999) 36-7
External links
The Act as in force today
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1967