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A ‘rollicking juggernaut of a show’ about three women taking on the establishment to help millions of leaseholders
“Fleecehold”, the play charting how three extraordinary women from the North-West helped break the rip-off leasehold form of land tenure in residential property, is back on stage as part of the Camden Fringe festival in north London.
The play, by author Michele Sheldon, is to be performed at the Cockpit Theatre at 7pm on August 22 to August 24.
Full details from Michele on 07951 602260 or email sheldonmichele@rocketmail.com
The play tells how the three founders of the National Leasehold Campaign, Katie Kendrick, Cath Williams and Jo Darbyshire, all unwittingly bought leasehold houses from plc housebuilders that had sneaky, revenue generating clauses in the leases.
The freeholds were then sold on to wealthy anonymous private equity punters, often offshore, who were happy to hitch a ride on the home owning aspirations of ordinary families via funds funds like William Waldorf Astor’s Long Harbour.
Britain’s ever-concentrating cartel of housebuilders, who are generously subsidised by taxpayers, happily ripped off their own customers, the vast majority of whom bought with the Help to Buy scheme. So, the rest of us were shafted as well.
The play tells how Katie, a nurse, is furious the developer has sold the freehold to her home to a viscount who owns 200,000 freeholds and now wants her to pay nearly £14,000 to buy hers back.
Despite being mute as a child and badly bullied because of a bad stammer, Katie decides she must speak out.
She is soon joined by fellow leaseholders Cath Williams and Jo Darbyshire, who take inspiration from leasehold campaigners Sebastian O’ Kelly, Louie Burns and the ghost of 19th century leasehold reformer MP Henry Broadhurst.
They set up the National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) on a Facebook page. Meanwhile, the ghosts of greedy landowners and aristocrats hinder and pour scorn on their attempts at reform alongside modern day freeholders and developers.
The play includes select committee inquiry evidence to document the leasehold reformers’ journey up to helping draft the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill 2023, making its way through Parliament in spite of being watered down due to lobbying. [The Conservative government running out of life also meant clauses from the Bill – such as what to do about existing ground rents – were also dropped.]
Over hundreds of years other leasehold reformers have been laughed at and ignored, yet the play highlights how the NLC’s tenacity, perseverance and the use of social media helped to garner support and push for reform, in spite of hard lobbying by freehold investors and landowners.
Fleecehold stars Lucille Ferguson as Katie Kendrick, Sasha Ravenscroft as Jo Darbyshire and Debbie Christie as Cath Williams. Supporting actors include comedy actor James Holmes, best known as Clive in popular BBC sitcom Miranda, Alex Halsall and Tristan Pretty.
Fleecehold is on at The Cockpit from 22 to 24 August at 7pm as part of the Camden Fringe.
Michele Sheldon wrote the play out of frustration of being a leaseholder and as a tribute to all the reformers, including Louie Burns, who died in 2020, as well as for all leaseholders trapped in their houses and flats. After a sellout run at the Camden Fringe last year, Michele has rewritten parts of the play to reflect audience feedback.
Michele said:
“Every day we hear stories in the news of how this feudal system brings mental health and financial misery and ruin to leaseholders. Freeholders and their managing agents treat an estimated five million leaseholders living in flats, shared ownership, retirement housing, housing estates and those trapped in the cladding scandal as cash cows. The sheer numbers of people suffering in England and Wales shows leasehold isn’t fit for purpose and must be replaced with commonhold in line with every other country in the world.”
Tickets can be bought here
https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/fleecehold
Katie
I think you could introduce an extra character into your play.
The “baddie” from an alternative campaigning website who tries to undermine you..
A very wise Leasehold Legend campaigner once told me “Don’t stop everytime you hear a dog bark ‘couse you will never get to your destination”.
I certainly don’t feed trolls.
Onwards and upwards #LeaseholdersTogether
Thank you for sharing.
I am a regular contributor to LKP and About Firstport web forums and believe that both sites have the best interests of Leaseholders at heart, which is proven by the many success’s achieved in a relatively short period of time.
I am very much the “new boy” on this forum but it occured to me that past differences should be put aside for the benefit of the Campaign for the abolition of Fleecehold and the immediate introduction of “Commonhold” for all.
The Freeholders will use all means at their disposal to cast doubt and division amongst Campaigners so as to weaken our resolve for change, in my opinion.
Stephen. I have been saying that for a long time but with the two people who operate the About Firstport website that is not possible.. I have suffered shocking abuse from them and have been banned from commenting on that site for expressing the very same reasons you have just given. You need to be careful.
Michael,
I agree that you have been trying your level best for unity amongst all that want the end of this ghastly medieval form of Legal servitude, called Fleecehold..
Your advice “be careful” struck me as omimous, please explain?
Stephen
May I suggest that you read through the comments on that website from June 2022 to August 2023 and you will see what I mean.
There are several campaigning websites for the reform/abolition of Leasehold and I think you will find that those two individuals have been banned from most of them. I have to admit that I have been banned from theirs for the reasons I have already given.
With the situation we are in I think we will be looking for major reform rather than abolition of leasehold.
We are in a 62 flat Social Housing complex which is split between Tenants and Leaseholders.. Average age 85years and many over 90years and needing help..
Our Landlord and Managers are Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing who provide this extra help and are relied on heavily by those who provide it.
Most Residents know little about Leasehold and nothing about Commonhold. The Tenants would have no interest in either of them.
We are looking for much better regulation of Social Landlords and control over the Leaseholders Service Charges. Tenants have their Rents and Service Charge increases fixed by the Government whereas Leaseholders are uncontrolled.
We are in a slightly different situation to the likes of Firstport leaseholders but we are all campaigning for major improvement. And have been doing so since 2010 when Grant Shapps scrapped any reform that was currently in the pipeline, due to it being what he called “red tape”.