A new lease of life: - CentreForum

A New Lease of Lifebecause it does not affect the freeholder’s potential premiumincome. Third, it does not require valuations, so is a simpler andcheaper process for leaseholders and tribunals alike.RTM will work better if leaseholders fully understand it beforeapplying, the application process is made easier and availableto more leaseholders and there are mechanisms in place forleaseholder governance once the RTM is granted.Expanding awareness of responsibility and rights is crucial. Thesummary of rights and obligations – a statutory instrument ensuringthat rights are included with service charges – should be extendedto ensure that leaseholders are aware of RTM. Similar informationabout RTM and enfranchisement should be included in annualaccounts.The two main practical barriers for taking the RTM are fear ofthe unknown and difficulties in gathering a sufficient number ofqualifying tenants. It is particularly complicated to get enoughqualifying tenants when individuals rent their properties becausethe people actually living in a property will not be eligible to supportan RTM application. To make it easier for developments withabsent buy-to-let owners, leaseholders should be able to requestthat freeholders forward a statement of an RTM application to allleaseholders in return for a fixed administration fee.Another barrier is that leaseholders must go to a tribunal if the lessordisputes their RTM claim which can be based on a technicality or anincorrectly completed form. This can allow unscrupulous freeholdersto oppose an application in the hope that the costs of going to an LVTwill deter leaseholders from pursuing their application. As stated inthe LVT section of Chapter 5, any freeholder objecting to an RTMapplication should give their grounds of objection within a specifiedperiod of time. This would make leaseholders aware of whetherthey could amend their application and reapply and would reducethe power asymmetries which facilitate brinkmanship. Shifting theonus onto the freeholder to show that a 20C order should be servedwould also help to reduce brinkmanship.In specific cases where developments are not eligible for theRTM – such as flats above shops – it could be possible to allowleaseholders to go to an LVT to make a case for special permissionto assume control of management.Government should also consider whether lighter controls onsection 20 consultation could be applied to self-managed blocks.65