I was delighted to chair a debate at the Professionalism in Property conference on 8 May 2019 on the subject of ‘Commonhold – is this the future?’
Appearing on the panel were Philip Rainey QC and Professor James Driscoll. Delegates debated a number of themes from the Law Commission’s recent consultation on re-invigorating commonhold as part of the solution to the so-called “Leasehold Scandal.”
The themes discussed included the issues around insolvency and other items that Law Commission have identified that will need to be addressed if Commonhold is to take hold.
Commonhold has been on the statute books since 2004 but there are more books written about it than commonhold developments. The Law Commission’s recent consultation identifies the key areas that need to be addressed if it is to be successful. Broadly these centre around concerns about costs and how estate costs are allocated on larger developments, the limited liability nature of the commonhold association and the concerns of developers about the potential loss of control early on in the process of selling off units. The consultation makes a number of excellent recommendations which I hope are encapsulated in firm recommendations to government for progress. 
Mark Chick
8th May 2019