Your chance to reform the law of the land

The Law Commission is consulting on changes that need to be made to the law, including land law and the law of landlord and tenant. Proposals that the Commission adopts will make up its 13th Programme of Law Reform. CMS is asking everyone involved in the real estate industry to help us respond to the consultation. We want to bring pressure to bear to remove the unnecessary obstacles the law creates for the sector.

For a response to be persuasive it must not be simply an academic and technical argument. It will be incredibly valuable if we can point to real life situations where legal rules have got in the way of sensible dealings - where opportunities have been lost - particularly where small or growing businesses have suffered.

For instance, many people believe that the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, by imposing rigid renewal rights, distorts the ability of landlords and tenants arrange their leases as they see fit. On the other hand, property owners can be astonished to find that they need to insure against the possibility that their local church might unexpectedly turn up and demand a contribution to the cost of repair. In the residential leasehold market many of the rules governing the relationship between long leaseholders and freehold owners cause headaches through their complexity.

As lawyers we become used to the odd rules and quirks of the system. If you are not a lawyer but have been frustrated by an apparently pointless technicality, we want to hear from you. Your views will give serious weight to the response we make to the Commission.

You can e-mail or call. You can give us chapter and verse or just an outline of your views. If we can get a picture of how you feel from chatting over the issue on the phone that will really help us. Please get in touch with your usual contact at CMS or one of the key contacts named below. Join us and see what we achieve.