Since the Coalition Government came to power in 2010 the issue of licencing landlords and agents in England is as far away as its ever been. The Housing Minister Grant Shapps has appeared to listen only to the landlord associations, who's members simply didn't want to be burdened by more 'red tape'. Unfortunately for the leasehold sector, he also applied the 'no more red tape' mantra to the  licencing of letting agents and managing agents for blocks of flats.

The idea for landlord licencing however really kicked off in England with the Rugg Review into the private rental sector carried out by Dr Julie Rugg and Dr David Rhodes of the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York in 2008.

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Leasehold Life is very pleased to publish another article from Katie Cohen, Partner at JPC Law, this time focusing on acquiring the freehold from a bankrupt individual.

Bankruptcy is the legal status of an individual who has been adjudged by an order of the court as being unable to repay their debts. An individual who believes they are insolvent may petition the Court for their own bankruptcy or a creditor may issue a bankruptcy petition against such an individual in a County Court or the High Court.

Once an individual is adjudged bankrupt a Trustee in Bankruptcy (“the Trustee”) is usually appointed to realise the bankrupt individual’s assets and distribute the proceeds of sale amongst the creditors. Often, the only significant asset of most bankrupt individuals is the property in which they reside.

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