Roger Southam, head of the Lease Advisory Service has resigned. This is long overdue given the conflicts of interest. His company Chainbow provided management companies for Taylor Wimpey developments, and in 2016 he was the director of no fewer than 9 management companies! What’s more when the leasehold scandal broke, he told a radio presenter he didn’t see it as LAS’s remit to publicise the issue or to protect other would-be buyers. Peter Bottomley and Justin Madders have criticised his leadership (or lack of) in Parliament. And the NLC called for him to step down two weeks ago. It’s a big step forward and will hopefully free Lease to work more actively for leaseholders.
The LAS was formed in 1993 to help inform all parties about the 1993 Leasehold Reform and Urban Development Act. Although it provides free advice to leaseholders it has been criticised for holding regular seminars advising freeholders how to maximise revenue.