Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Leasehold Reform

Monday 2 December 2024 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial awareness acknowledged regarding unjustified fees and charges faced by leaseholders.
  • Government plans to discuss leaseholder protections with local representatives.
  • Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act offers additional protections for residential freeholders.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Damien Egan Lab Bristol North East
Housing
Context

The question follows a previous ministerial statement on leasehold reforms and concerns about excessive charges faced by leaseholders in Bristol.

Question

I recently met people living on the redeveloped Blackberry Hill hospital site in Fishponds, and they told me about the excessive and unfair leasehold charges that they face from their property management company, FirstPort. What assurances can the Minister provide that this Government will, once and for all, free people from the leaseholder system and end the rip-off fees?

Answer from Matthew Pennycook

The Government are acutely aware that far too many leaseholders across the country are routinely subject to unjustified permissions and administration fees, unreasonable or extortionate charges, and onerous conditions that are imposed with little or no consultation. That is not what home ownership should entail, and it is why we must bring the system to an end in this Parliament. As I set out in the written ministerial statement to which I referred earlier, the Government will act to protect leaseholders from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous managing agents.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific assurances about ending unfair charges were not provided.

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Q2 Damien Egan Lab Bristol North East
Housing
Context

Concerns about the costs of building extra apartment levels over existing blocks and passing these costs to leaseholders.

Question

May I thank the Minister for the answers that he has given me in this Chamber, and in a written answer at the end of October, on the plight of leaseholders who have extra apartment levels grafted on above the blocks in which they live? I appreciate that he does not want to alter the planning presumption in favour of granting permission to build add-on extra levels, but will he at least consider outlawing any attempt by freeholders to pass on the cost of botched extensions to the poor old leaseholders, who have suffered enough by having such extensions built over their heads in the first place?

Answer from Matthew Pennycook

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. He will recognise—I know he does—that those types of developments are the result of the expansion of permitted development rights that was taken forward after 2013. There are issues with the quality of some of the works that have come through that stream. On the specific issue he raises, perhaps it might be a good idea if we sat down together. I will happily discuss with him how we can protect leaseholders from those types of variable service charge increases.

Not addressed: The Minister suggested discussion rather than a direct commitment to legislation.

How: Suggested Discussion Instead

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Q3 Julian Lewis Con New Forest East
Housing
Context

Residents in Battersea face high service charges from management agents, prompting a request for meetings to discuss protective measures.

Question

Battersea is home to a large number of leaseholders, many of whom have had to face astronomically high service charges from what we all know are unscrupulous management agents. I am very pleased that this Government will protect leaseholders, given that the last Government failed to do so, but is the Minister willing to meet me and some of my leaseholders so that he can share Labour's plans to protect them?

Answer from Matthew Pennycook

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I am more than happy to sit down with her, or to join a call or meeting with leaseholders in her constituency, in order to discuss the Government's plans to end the system in this Parliament. We fully appreciate the wish of leaseholders across the country for us to act with speed. As the ministerial statement sets out, we also have got to balance that with the need to get these reforms right.

Partly answered

Not addressed: No specific protective measures or timeline was committed.

How: Stated Willingness To Discuss

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Q4 Marsha de Cordova Lab Battersea
Housing
Context

Concerns about high service charges faced by residents of new towns like Sherford, which have no likelihood of changing.

Question

I welcome the Government's commitment to continue our work to address issues with the current leasehold system. However, where we are building new towns, such as Sherford in my constituency, residents, like others in new builds, face council tax and service charges, with no likelihood of that changing. What plans does the Minister have to address the impact of service charges in new towns as part of leasehold reform?

Answer from Matthew Pennycook

I think the hon. Lady is referring to the pressures placed on residential freeholders as a result of some of the management estate charges that come through that route. There are provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act to provide residential freeholders with additional protections, and we need to bring those measures into force. We also then need to look more widely at how we reduce the prevalence of private and mixed-tenure housing estates, which are the fundamental root of the problem.

Partly answered

Not addressed: No specific plans or timeline for addressing service charges in new towns was given.

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