My Lords, I will briefly speak to the amendments in my name before turning to the amendments in the names of my noble friend Lord Young of Cookham and the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley. Government Amendment 83 is a clarificatory amendment. Clause 67 outlines that all of Sections 18 to 30P of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 bind the Crown, and that the relevant provisions bind the Crown whether or not they relate to Crown land.
As a result, Section 172(1)(a) of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 will be repealed. Since subsections (4) and (7) of Section 112 of the Building Safety Act 2022 amend the 2002 Act, these subsections are no longer necessary.
I now turn to the amendments in the names of my noble friend Lord Young, and the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley. I thank my noble friend Lord Young for his Amendment 54, which seeks to bind the Crown to the enfranchisement measures in the Bill and to apply those measures to properties subject to escheat. It is a long-established principle that legislation does not bind Crown lands, including the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, unless the Act expressly states so or by necessary implication. Where an Act, or a part of an Act, does not bind the Crown, the Crown can and often does agree to act in accordance with the legislation.
The current position is that most Crown leaseholders enjoy the same lease extension and enfranchisement opportunities as other leaseholders, by virtue of the Crown’s undertaking given to Parliament to act by analogy with the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 and the
Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, which are not directly binding on the Crown. We also expect that the Crown will agree to act by analogy with the Bill before us. The effect will be that most leaseholders of the Crown will have the same opportunity to extend their lease or buy their freehold as any other leaseholder would, except in certain special circumstances set out in an undertaking we expect to be given by the Crown. Therefore, the outcomes the Government want to see can be achieved without legislation, and the amendment is unnecessary.
I would also like to thank my noble friend for raising an important point in his amendment about properties subject to escheat. The Government recognise that when the freehold becomes ownerless, it can cause problems for some of those leaseholders. However, the amendment would not achieve its intended aim because when a property escheats to the Crown the freehold no longer exists, and the Bill is not the appropriate place for a review of the complex law surrounding ownerless land. When a property becomes ownerless the land and buildings escheat to the Crown. If a purchaser is interested, the Crown can sell it so that it goes back into private ownership.
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The law in relation to ownerless land and escheat is complex. Following consultation with the Law Commission, the commission flagged ownerless land as a possible law reform project for inclusion in its 14th programme of law reform. As noble Lords can see, if the Law Commission has flagged it as a complex issue needing to be dealt with by it, that is the place where I think it should remain. However, I am happy to talk more to my noble friend; I am particularly interested in the case that he brought forward and am happy to look into it. I therefore hope my noble friend will be content to withdraw his amendment.
Amendment 106, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, seeks to bind the provisions of the Bill to the Duchy of Cornwall where they would not otherwise. I thank the noble Lord for giving advance notice of his intention to table this amendment. I know that he is a tireless campaigner and has a personal interest particularly in this area and the Isles of Scilly.
I am also grateful for the noble Lord’s further Amendment 93A, which would bind the provisions of Part 5 of the Bill to the Crown more broadly. As discussed in relation to Amendment 54, the principle that legislation does not bind the Crown land applies to the Duchy of Cornwall as a Crown body unless the Act expressly states so or by necessary implication.
Most leaseholders of the Crown have the same opportunity to exercise their rights as any other leaseholder, except in special circumstances. The Law Commission recommended that the Crown should remain exempt from statutory enfranchisement rights on the basis that Crown bodies will give an undertaking to act by analogy with the new enfranchisement regime except in special circumstances. The Government are therefore implementing those recommendations.
The Law Commission put forward suggestions for Crown bodies to consider—relating to those areas with special circumstances, including some parts of
the Isles of Scilly—to be included in their future undertaking. We continue to discuss the undertaking with the Crown authorities, and an update will be provided to the House in due course. For most properties on Crown land, we expect the Crown to act by analogy with the Bill.
With regard to Part 5, relating to freehold estates, the Crown is bound to a large extent. Clause 96 makes it clear that the provisions of Part 5 bind the Crown for the home buying and selling measures, and for those aspects of Part 5 where they are required to provide information on request from an estate manager. However, there may be a small number of locations that could be built on now or in future—that is, land owned by His Majesty or other parts of the Crown Estate. In such circumstances, we expect that the Crown will act by analogy with the Bill; in other words, they will ensure that home owners on such estates have access to equivalent rights. In our opinion, it is therefore not necessary to bind the Duchy or, in relation to Part 5, the Crown. That is because, as with Amendment 54, the outcomes that the Government wish can be achieved without statutory provision. I therefore kindly request that the noble Lord not press his amendment, but I am more than happy to speak to him between now and Report.