§ Lord Williams of Elvelasked Her Majesty's Government:
What discussions, if any, they have held with representatives of other countries operating strata title and similar forms of tenure in the course of preparation of the draft Commonhold Bill.
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§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)No discussions were held. However, published material about similar forms of title in other countries was taken into account.
§ Lord Williams of Elvelasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many responses they have received to the consultation process on the draft Commonhold Bill and (a) how many of that number were critical of the draft Bill and (b) what were the main criticisms put forward.
§ The Lord ChancellorThere were 60 consultation responses. Most supported the principle of commonhold and raised helpful practical points. The main concerns expressed were about:
- (a) the restriction of length of lease on a commonhold unit to a maximum of 25 years;
- (b) the commonhold association's power to sell a unit to recover unpaid service charges without the requirement of a court order;
- (c) whether the Bill should compel freeholders to consent to conversion to a commonhold;
- (d) the lack of an alternative dispute resolution process;
- (e) too great a reliance on secondary legislation for the details of the system.