What rights do leaseholders have?

There are no statutory requirements for consulting leaseholders within the stock transfer process. However, it is good practice for a specific leaseholders information pack to be negotiated so it is clear how the proposed stock transfer would affect them.

In fact, though the council WILL ballot leaseholders at the same time as it ballots tenants.

The major difference is that, after the expenditure of a large amount of money to get your opinions, and presumably to collate them and so on, they will be ignored.

The Leaeholders' ballot does not count.

The Council ballots to get a sense of our views, but they don't have to take note of the views expressed. The ballot is kept separate from the ballot of Secure Tenants.

Even if leaseholders were balloted and voted overwhelming against transfer, if tenants had voted for it with a simple majority, the estate would be transfered.

Leaseholders may make objections to the transfer to John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, who will take them into consideration before reaching a decision on whether to consent to a transfer. Ultimately it is Mr Prescott's decision.

Why are leaseholders ignored?

The reason is that the transfer involves a change in the legal nature of tenancies, which potentially affects tenants' legal rights, and perhaps more importantly, the attitude which judges are likely to take, in future, in case of dispute, to their security of tenure.

The transfer of the leases to a new landlord is viewed as involving no change as far as the leaseholder is concerned, since the lease itself is not changed, only the landlord.

What does this mean?

It means that if you wait for the ballot to make your views known, they will have no effect.

But if you put forward your views before the ballot, there is much more chance they will be listened to and acted upon.