Owners yet Tenants: The Position of Leaseholders in Flats in England and Wales

Abstract

The position of flat owners inevitably raises complex issues in terms of the balance of individual and collective rights and responsibilities to be enshrined in housing law. These issues are resolved in various ways according to national policies and market frameworks. This paper examines the unique and unusual position of long leaseholders in privately owned blocks of flats in England and Wales. It outlines the major legal changes which have affected this sector in recent years, and assesses some of the experiences of leaseholders, based on a national study of 870 cases. The paper highlights the confusion surrounding the status of leaseholders as tenants and owners and assesses current proposals for further reform. The analysis is situated in debates about the complexity of 'tenure' as a category, and reveals the extent to which the concept embraces multiple meanings rooted in both legalistic discourse and popular assumption. The paper reflects on the methodological potential of approaching tenure as a construct in order to understand why the leasehold sector in England and Wales has endured and has so far proved relatively immune to attempted legal transformations of its character and function.

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