Scott Goldstein states, ‘while commonhold was an improvement on leasehold in many ways, it would bring its own set of problems.’
“It’s certainly not going to be a panacea. You’re just changing your enemy. If you’re a leaseholder and your flat is being managed terribly, the person you’re against is the management company or the landlord. If it’s a commonhold, your enemy is going to be your neighbour,” he said. “I’m going to have different types of work to do. There are going to be different types of arguments.”
He added that commonhold gave flat owners a “lot more power”, but with that came “big decisions” that not everyone would be equipped with the knowledge, or the time, to make.
Those warnings of neighbourly disharmony brought on by shared decision-making do not seem to be borne out in some of the more established commonholds.
Scott’s comments were featured in multiple news outlets. The articles have been linked below with kind permission.
For further information, please contact Scott Goldstein, Partner in the Litigation, arbitration & dispute resolution department or, alternatively, telephone on 02074654300.
