Boodle Hatfield Property Insights, Dec 2023 - Flipbook - Page 2
Boodle Hat昀椀eld
Property Insights
The consultation outlines 昀椀ve options:
•
Capping ground rents at a peppercorn.
•
Setting maximum 昀椀nancial value for ground rent.
•
Capping ground rents at a percentage of the property
value.
•
Limiting ground rent to the original value when the
lease was agreed.
•
Freezing ground rent at current levels.
Each of the above options would require some degree of
reform to the current position, ‘no change’ not featuring in
the 昀椀ve options for reform. Whilst the potential signi昀椀cant
昀椀nancial impact for freeholders is acknowledged in the
consultation, the consultation does not include provision
for freeholders to be compensated for any loss of revenue
or the ability for freeholders to capitalise the lost income
stream by other means. The Consultation can be viewed
here and looks likely to provoke some lively debate in the
run up to Christmas.
The information that may be requested within these
provisions may be used for a range of purposes including,
but not limited to:
•
Bene昀椀cial ownership purpose: Identifying attempts
to evade or avoid the disclosure requirements
set out in the Economic Crime (Transparency and
Enforcement) Act 2022 including the requirements
for overseas entities owning UK land to register at
Companies House.
•
Contractual control purpose: Promoting greater
land transparency by the publication of data such as
conditional contracts, pre-emptions and options that
may be used by developers to control land.
•
National security purpose: Other uses described
as ‘wider national security and macro-economic
purposes’.
Renters Reform Act and no-fault possession
notices
The King’s Speech included a further nod to the
government desire to progress the Renters Reform Bill
notably the intention to abolish the ability of residential
landlords to serve s21 ‘no fault’ possession notices. The
progress of the Renters Reform Bill to date has been slow,
and the government has seemingly now acknowledged
that the current court system must be reformed before
the Bill can progress.
Simon Kerrigan, Property Partner
Levelling up to require
disclosure of land interests
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 became law
at the end of October. A substantial piece of legislation
with a not terribly eye-catching title aimed at ‘levelling
up’ and ‘breathing new life into business and the regions
across the UK’.
Disclosure of land interests
The Act includes the outline detail of new ‘Part 11
provisions’ aimed at providing a ‘clear line of sight’ across
a piece of land, allowing public bodies, including the Land
Registry, access to information (including transactional
documents) setting out who owns, controls or has an
interest in land.
The requirement to provide information will be enforced
by measures that will prevent landowners from
registering changes to the Land Registry title registers
where required information has not been provided.
Failure to provide required information will be a criminal
offence.
Further information will be provided in the form of as yet
unpublished regulations. It is likely that these measures
will impact signi昀椀cantly on the ability of land owners and
contracting parties to keep transactional information
con昀椀dential including by means of current well
established practices such as the use of Land Registry
exempt information documents and unilateral notices.
Andrew Wilmot-Smith , Partner and Head of
Property
