https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/ae53f227-22ac-4ddc-8e83-ad399c4ae9b8?in=14:37:46
Government today gave assurance that the leasehold reform bills would be brought forward in this session of Parliament, but it would not publish the bills for pre-legislative scrutiny as former housing minister Lord Greenhalgh has urged.
Lord Kennedy of Southwark, Labour chief whip in the Lords and a powerful voice for leaseholders, raised the issue, and received the following response from Baroness Scott of Bybrook, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Lords:
“We are committed to making enfranchisement simpler and cheaper for leaseholders. We will abolish marriage value, cap the treatment of ground rents in the enfranchisement calculation and prescribe rates to be used saving some leaseholders thousands of pounds. An online calculator will also be introduced to make it simpler for leaseholders to find out how much it will cost them to enfranchise. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.”
Lord Kennedy raised whether the minister would raise the LKP interview with Baroness Scott’s predecessor Lord Greenhalgh, in which he doubted that the leasehold reforms would be in the King’s Speech in November, with Secretary of State Michael Gove.
She replied: “I have already done so.”
Lord Kennedy also raised the issue, referred to in the interview with Lord Greenhalgh, of leaseholders who extended their leases being disqualified for financial aid under the Building Safety Act.
Baroness Scott said: “We are looking to resolve this issue as soon as Parliamentary time allows.”
Lord Young of Cookham, a former Conservative minister and leader of the Commons, asked whether these protections would apply retrospectively, but received a non-commital reply.
There was strong interest in leasehold expressed by several other lords including Lord Naseby and Baroness Thornhill, who referred to the “unsatisfactory service” of the First Tier Tribunal, and the 19th Earl of Devon, a former barrister, who raised the issue of commonhold, about which he had helped write a book after its introduction in 2002, and which he welcomed.
The only false note from a leaseholders’ viewpoint was made by Conservative peer Baroness [Ros] Altmann (“pensions expert and campaigner”) who urged that leasehold reforms did not neglect to reference the excellent landlords in the sector.
This prompted a bit of schmoozing from the junior minister, echoing this sentiment.
The point may be lost on both of them that whether freehold owning landlords in leasehold are good or bad, they have far too much power over the homes of ordinary people (which is also wholly disproportionate to any investment on their part).
Here, for example for the hundredth time, is the otherwise admirable Wellcome Trust spendig £114,000 to break a leaseholder who withheld only £6,000 in service charges. (Of course, Wellcome was advised by property managers over this issue):
Related posts:
Lords push government’s Fire Safety Bill to the edge as parliamentary session nears end …
At last a housing minister who seems to want to reform leasehold, and knows legal costs are being gamed to keep freeholders on top
20 MPs and Lords sign up for All-Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold
Bottomley demands meeting over leasehold with Housing Minister Mark Prisk after LKP / Campaign against Retirement Leasehold Exploitation conference
Answer to a parliamentary question about Leasehold Valuation Tribunals … 189 irrelevant documents
Bottomley to raise with Churchill Retirement its decision to continue charging ground rents
I am just going through extending leases on two flats my husband left me so I can sell the flats.
Going to cost around 50,000 incl costs per flat.
I am thinking it will take couple of years before the government get round to changing this.
The above improvements are not enough. Leaseholders who live in a block of flats owed by local government cannot buy the common parts, government will never sell leases for more than 50% of properties. Plus a lot of leaseholders cannot afford to enfranchise.
The huge problem with freeholders ripping off leaseholders through major works charges, repairs and maintenance.
As example, Lewisham Council charges leaseholders 3 times the cost of servisces and works. 3 times! for shoddy works and services. And leaseholders cannot even use alternative works and services suppliers. You may say go to Tribunal. People can loos their leases if thet loose, and this issues are ingoing, you dont expect people to spend all their lives dealing with tribunal cases.
Solution for charges from freeholdrs need to be found urgently. Capping charged to the very minimum for leaseholders, not allowing freeholders add profit to the service provider prices that are passed to leaseholders. Leasehold properties have to be stopped as source of profit. It affect people’s lives.
Too much talk and not enough action.
charges 3x fir shoddy service, count yourself lucky I pay for services I don’treceive. The commonhold areas haven’t been cleaned in ten years. You can imagine the filth.
Most of the flats are BTL landlords who don’t seem to care because housing in such short supply they have no trouble renting.
I haven’t objected because any dispute would probably make the flat unsellable and because they can charge me legal fees in the lease. Why take them to task over £250 cleaning fee if it could end up with me paying thousands.
Y&Y management you’re a bunch of crooks.