Leading grant-giving Charity seeks narrow exemption to leasehold reforms to protect £1.3m funding for children and young people in four-day Judicial Review proceedings
The Chief Executive of John Lyon’s Charity, one of London’s leading grant-giving organisations, has said she is confident that the organisation’s arguments have been carefully listened to by judges at a Judicial Review into the government’s leasehold reforms.
The Charity is seeking a narrow legal exemption from the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LFRA 24) and has been attending a four-day Judicial Review hearing at the High Court which concluded on Friday 18th July.
Dr Lynne Guyton, CEO of John Lyon’s Charity (JLC), (pictured above) said: “John Lyon’s Charity supports leasehold reform and as a leaseholder myself, I fully understand why reform is required. As a charity, we appreciate that this is a very complex and emotive subject, and we understand why there are such strong feelings.
“Taking legal action to protect the thousands of children and young people who are supported by our grant-giving has not been easy and is not something we entered into lightly. Equally, the narrow exemption we are seeking will have no impact on the rights of ordinary leaseholders up and down the country.
“We seek a very tight exemption for a tiny number of properties owned by extremely wealthy individuals and organisations, billionaires, non-doms and investment companies, in of one of the most affluent parts of London. We are talking, for instance, about a street of mansions where even flats go for up to £15 million.
“If we do not succeed, as we have highlighted to the court, then it is only those wealthy, foreign and commercial investors who will benefit, and we will lose £1.3 million which would support 10,000 children and young people and 250 organisations across north and east London which help those young, disadvantaged people every day.”
Without an exemption for JLC, which is a unique position, there will be a direct impact on funding for vital grant-aided support services such as educational, artistic, youth and mental health programmes for children and young people, many from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Act does exempt entities such as the Crown Estate, the National Trust, and the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall. The Charity is simply seeking the same legal right.
Mark Stephens, CBE, solicitor with Howard Kennedy representing John Lyon’s Charity, said: “We have highlighted to the court the unique position of John Lyon’s Charity and the fact that the reforms, while well intended for homeowners and first-time buyers, have an unintended consequence which will mean thousands of children and young people will lose vital support while the money is diverted to wealthy investors and foreigners.
“The people who own and live in the properties owned by JLC are not the kind of people, or businesses, that the legislation says it was targeting, and as a result in our view the Act is flawed. We hope the judges see the sense in our argument and after the conclusion of the hearing today, we will await the court’s findings.”
John Lyon’s Charity operates across nine London boroughs including Camden where 39% of children live in poverty and which includes PM Keir Starmer’s constituency.
JLC depends on property assets to fund approximately 250 organisations each year, equating to £12-15 million in grant-giving – but the Act would slash that by 10%, transferring £1.37 million of its grants to millionaires, non-doms and investors per year.
Since 1991, JLC has granted over £230 million to more than 1,700 organisations. At least 250 organisations are currently in grant with JLC, supporting around 160,000 children and young people.
One organisation whose funding would be under threat is Adventure Play Hub in St John’s Wood, which offers all-year-round indoor and outdoor activities and meals for children, many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Lauren Daley, Charity Director of Adventure Play Hub, said: “The activities, meals and support we offer children aged from five to 12 is fundamental to many of the families who live in the local area. We would not be able to offer all of that if it wasn’t for the funding, understanding and the assistance we get from John Lyon’s Charity and we very much hope they win their case.”