AN MHK has been given the go-ahead to attempt to change laws on leasehold.

The House of Keys gave Lawrie Hooper (LibVannin, Ramsey) leave to introduce a private member’s bill that would introduce what he described as ’bite-sized reforms to our residential leasehold legislation’.

The legislation would affect people who had bought a flat under a leasehold of more than 21 years, he said. It would not apply to commercial leaseholders.

He told MHKs last week: ’The bill will propose to ensure that leaseholders would have the unqualified right to assume management of their block of flats.

’Isle of Man law already has this provision and this right, but only where a landlord or management company has failed in their obligations.’

The current conditions were ’onerous’ he said, requiring a tribunal , which did not provide leaseholders with a ’level playing field’.

Mr Hooper said: ’These proposals would enable leaseholders to get together, form their own management company collectively, and then they could apply to the tribunal for the management order.’

He said it would follow a similar model to one used in the UK.

Mr Hooper explained his motivation: ’I have had quite a lot of issues raised by constituents around the current processes and the fact that these rights are currently conditional on convincing a tribunal of wrongdoing on the part of a landlord.

’This means that even in situations where there has been, according to the tribunal, potentially criminal acts, tribunals have not awarded management orders.’

He said there were other instances where nothing changed after a tribunal ruling.

Because it would be a private member’s bill - as opposed to government-sponsored legislation - Mr Hooper needed the all-clear from MHKs to go ahead and draft legislation. He also pledged to carry out a consultation.