Urge your MP to join the APPG on leasehold and commonhold reform – NOW!
Labour MP Mike Amesbury (Runcorn and Helsby) and Conservative Neil O’Brien (Harborough, Oadby, Wigston) today formally established the new APPG on leasehold and commonhold reform, of which LKP is the secretariat.
At a meeting in Portcullis House they were joined by 20-odd MPs, who were mainly Labour but also included Wendy Morton (Conservative, Aldridge Brownhills). Conservative MPs, often representing suburbs, have strong feelings on the related scandal of “fleecehold”: private estate management companies, now traded among the same punters busy in the leasehold sector.
Mike Amesbury talked of the urgent need to restore fairness in the leasehold system, working on the achievements of his predecessors – Sir Peter Bottomley, Justin Madders, Daisy Cooper, Sir Ed Davey, Jim Fitzpatrick – who had pushed through the reform agenda.
Mike Amesbury said: “As a former Shadow Housing Minister that provided scrutiny and challenge to the previous government, as well as being a member of the APPG, I look forward to working cross party with LKP, the National Leasehold Campaign and the cladding campaigners to legislate this feudal system into the history books. We are determined to make commonhold the default tenure.”
The past three years have seen two substantial legislative reforms: the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act of 2021 and the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act of 2024, which was rushed through at the end of the last Parliament in the “wash-up” process – to pass Bills which both government and the Opposition agree on.
The ban on setting new ground rents in 2021 closed off a lucrative income stream for punters who speculate in residential freeholders: sadly, they saw other opportunities in highly aggressive and complex shared ownership contracts (the development habitually subsidised by Homes England) and “fleecehold” private estate management charges, where councils have not adopted street lighting, pavements etc. These fleecehold management contracts are now avidly traded among property companies familiar to leaseholders.
The business of the APPG is yet to be decided, but it is likely to include an invitation to housing minister Matthew Pennycook to discuss the secondary legislation anticipated by the 2024 Act, as well as wider sector issues such as the “class action” over freeholders’ insurance commissions launched by City solicitor and leaseholder (and LKP trusteee) Liam Spender.
The MPs at the inaugural meeting this morning
Mike Amesbury MP – Runcorn and Helsby
Neil O’Brien MP – Harborough, Oadby, Wigston
Shaun Davies MP – Telford
Will Stone MP – Swindon North
Chris Curtis MP – Milton Keynes North
Joe Powell MP – Kensington
Margaret Mullane MP – Dagenham and Rainham
Andrew Cooper MP – Mid Cheshire
Kirith Entwistle MP- Bolton North East
Rachel Hopkins MP – Luton South and South Bedford
Marie Rimmer MP- St Helens South and Whiston
Amanda Hack MP – North West Leicestershire
Jack Abbott MP- Ipswich
Alistair Strathern MP – Hitchin
Jayne Kirkham MP – Truro and Falmouth
Mark Ferguson MP – Gateshead Central and Whickham
David Pinto-Duschinsky MP – Hendon
Barry Gardiner MP- Brent West
Meg Hillier MP – Hackney South and Shoreditch
Wendy Morton MP – Aldridge-Brownhills
Related posts:
20 MPs and Lords sign up for All-Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold
All Party Parliamentary Group: this is how to reform leasehold
All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold established today
Our parliamentary briefing on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill
Blessed is the sinner that repenteth … former housing minister Heather Wheeler joins APPG to reform leasehold, Harry Scoffin,
Fleecehold: The play. Back on stage in Camden August 22-24
The 2024 Leasehold Reform bill was enacted on 24 May. Yet four months later leaseholders are still waiting for it to be ‘switched on’, aka enacting secondary legislation. APPG seems pleased with itself for inviting housing minister Matthew Pennycook to merely *discuss* the secondary legislation anticipated by the 2024 Act. Yet still no explanation of the 4 months delay on something leaseholders were promised would be quick and simple procedural matter. What’s the use of a talking shop if it can’t communicate the minimum of updates to the leaseholders whose lives remain on hold?
The class action is that rarest of developments – a solution rather than a problem. Surely the APPG should focus on the myriad problems first?
Gerri,
I agree with you. I have been invited to attend an open forum meeting hosted by Chris Webb MP for Blackpool South this weekend.
I intend to make my views and opinions abundantly clear to Mr Webb MP. I expect the Government to abolish Leasehold / Fleecehold and replace it with COMMONHOLD within this Parlimentary term and not a minute longer.
There have been some rather exaggerated claims in the press about the pace at which any reform occurs. Bringing forward the secondary legislation to support the 2024 bill was always going to take time. Some parts are very complicated and will emerge over the coming years rather than months.
All APPGs are there to represent the collective view of backbenchers. Each one needs to reform in every new parliament and that happened the two days ago.
.
I hope that all the reforms get completed during the present Parliament.
With the two candidates for the Tory Party leadership I suspect either would scrap it at the first opportunity.
Martin,
I disagree with you.
We can now afford regular holidays having rid ourselves from the imposed former MA.
The 12% of Tory voters who switched to Labour have made a difference and will continue to do so.
A great deal of rubbish has been talked about this that and the other about Leasehold Reform.
The solution is the ABOLITION of Leasehold – Freehold. Nothing more or nothing less. This racket must be ended.
I suggest others take there wheel barrow full of Leaseholder cash and bleat to the ECHR and about your God Given right to rob Leaseholders blind.
Seb is right. Stop dawdling and get a move on.
We need to be asking ourselves why it is that Parliament can, if it so wishes when there is genuine motivation ensure certain laws can be pushed through literally overnight. Realistically, meaningful changes to leasehold promised are light years away from being made law.
The system of law and justice is broken in this country, like every government department.
As LKP have been saying for years, the balance between landlord and leaseholder is totally one-sided and as long as we have right-of-centre governments – like we have now – nothing will change. You only have to look at the number of MP’s ‘signed up’ to the APPG, as a percentage of the total number in Parliament to see scale of the problem.
Exactly, although don’t kid yourself – a true left-wing government will not be on the side of most property owners, especially leaseholders in cities like London, while there’s a housing crisis. It’s about interests and who votes for which party rather than modernising and progression. We can bomb a country or go to war at the stroke of a pen or the nudge-nudge of a coterie around the PM but give you rights to own a home – to really own a home – well, that will bring the country down, obviously.
Why do we need a new talking shop / committee? It’s really great that they ‘feel’ for the position of leaseholders but feelings won’t prevent homelessness or pay for a lease extension. Come on Labour, are you reformers or just more of the same? Maybe there are too many freeholders on both sides of the house.
There have been long standing complaints about the ways in which PARK HOME OWNERS are treated. Namely having to pay the Park Owner a huge commission included in the purchase price of a new home, then having to pay a monthly rent on which the home stands and which rises EVERY YEAR by the rate of CPI inflation, then having to pay the Park Owner 10% of the sale price every time the same home changes hands when either the owner dies or goes into care. The previous Government arranged for a Report from Liverpool Hallam University and confirmed that action would take place in 2023, then kicked the Report into the ‘long grass’! It is long past the time that elderly Park Home Owners stopped being fleeced by dishonest and greedy Park Owners. I don’t know of any other housing system where the rent increases each year by CPI inflation AND the Home Owner then has to lose 10% of their equity upon selling their home!
Indeed, to mirror some of the other comments made here, Yes, the Act that was pushed through left a lot to be desired, however, before the group of MPs seek to reinvent the wheel, some concept of a time table for both the Secondary legislation for the existing Act and then that which is then to be improved upon would be useful.
Leaseholders are currently sat in no man’s land, betwixt and between renewals. These, themselves can involve what needs amount to almost a second mortgage. Ignorance would of course have been bliss but for the knowledge of (yet another) ‘promised land’ just around the corner.
I believe that it is vital to establish 100% transparency as a matter of urgency, displaying all political contributions / sponsorships etc to any Party or Member from any body with “Landlord or Leasehold Management interests”
“Old Git”;Yorkshire
What happened to the leaehold will be abolished 90 days into a Labour Government?
I have no faith in this Government doing anything.
Lets hope Lord Ali isnt a freeholder because if he is we are doomed.
Lets hope that our Prime Minister isn’t a lawyer, if he is we are doomed. Apart from the freeholders there are so many professions making a good living out of the existence of domestic leasehold, most notably the legal profession. That is why former Master of the Rolls, Sir Terence Etherton, spoke so passionately for the preservation of leasehold. For the record Sir Terence is now (robber) Baron Etherton. It is particularly ironic that Etherton was, between the years 2016/2021, also Head of Civil Justice.
David,
The Prime Minister is in fact a Solicitor and a top drawer Kings Counsel.
He gave his word to end feudal Leasehold. The clock is ticking, will this be a one term Government or two?
I sincerely hope that he keeps his word and all this is sorted in the next four years.
Looking at the Jenrick and Badenoch leadership campaigns I can foresee any reforms or removal of Leasehold being scrapped by either of them.
They both support the removal of Regulations, Quangos, Red Tape, Equality Act, European Human right Act, Climate Change Act, etc.
We saw it all before in 2010 when Grant Shapps quashed all the Leasehold reforms that were in the pipeline.
And as I have said many times before campaigning groups fighting amongst themselves is a hindrance, we all need to work together.
Yes Stephen, I was aware that Starmer is a lawyer/King’s Counsel. I was acting dumb. I fear for the cause when people like Martin (above) sound like the establishment. Has becoming head of Lease gone to his head?
You are one of the few people here who have dropped the word “reform” from your vocabulary, you repeatedly talk of ABOLITION. I am sick to death of this word “reform”.
David,
I have just completed and returned a “consent form” to my Member of Parliament Chris Web.
My last email to Chris Webb MP was dated 28.10.24. The contents of my email can be summarised as get rid (abolition) of Fleecehold – Leasehold within the first term of this Parliament.
I urge other like minded contributors to write to your MP and make your views known.
I live in an Extra Care Community- freeholder, a Charity. I own my flat – Leasehold. The costs we pay monthly for service charge, ground rent and wellbeing has risen from £730 in 21( when I moved here) to £1017 this year.
Service charge is accounted for but not wellbeing. Wellbeing accounts for more than half the total costs. If I had known what I now know I would never have moved here. We have no control of costs and as we now have no Residents Committee the Housing Manager does what they want.
Ann. We are in so called Affordable Housing with Extra Care if required . Social Housing company MTVH.. Average age 85years.
They have just increased our Service Charges by 66% . Although it includes for power and water charges ( we are on a communal system), the monthly charge is now £465 which amounts to nearly £6000pa. On top of that we are being charged an extra £1000 for shortfall over the past two years. It has become completely unaffordable but what can we do about it.
That is why we want the PM to act now to bring in some better Regulations to control these Landlords.
Here we go again, the talk is of REFORM of leasehold. We have had over the years numerous and many REFORMS of leasehold, only for further REFORMS to be necessary for a variety of reasons. REFORM of leasehold is a device to pacify sinned against leaseholders and never intended to make leasehold any fairer. ABOLITION of domestic leasehold is the ONLY way to go. And might I add with retrospection.
David,
I agree with you. We are being played and have been for decades and longer.
The “big swindle” of Fleecehold – Leasehold has stood the test of time for Centurys and must be Abolished in my opinion.
Why are England and Wales the only Country’s on Gods good earth that tolerate this form of medieval servitude?
The answer is, in my view, Big Money derived from Leaseholders one way or the other, is used by Free Loaders in there efforts to frustrate the end of the scandal of Leasehold.
Let’s please clarify something here. Fleecehold is not leasehold.
Fleecehold is that term given to the scam that big builders introduced. Freehold properties that were bought as that on estates were pedalled the lie that local authorities don’t adopt open spaces anymore so we will use an unscrupulous management company to do it on our behalf instead of us as a massive builder paying the local authority to adopt. So basically that property you thought was freehold is in fact not.
This is Fleecehold and not Leasehold.
Both tenures however pay to these ungovernable management companies.
As such Fleecehold needs to be addressed alongside leasehold as failure to remove these companies will still result in exorbitant charges levied on all residents on an estate that anyone living elsewhere can use
Graeme can I offer a slight correction or rather clarification to your description of fleecehold. The term was originated by a member of the NLC and adopted in various documents. Eventually it was used by the Law Commission who mention it in their report on RTM. That report said:
“There has been growing concern that certain undesirable features of leasehold
ownership have been replicated in freehold ownership. The term “fleecehold”
has been used to describe this phenomenon. Examples include obligations
imposed on freehold homeowners to pay permission fees to make alterations to
their home and inappropriate charges for the upkeep of neighbouring land and
facilities”
However there is no dictionary definition of fleecehold so its also sometimes used to describe the estate charges that can apply on leasehold house estates and even some leasehold large flat developments where they are obliged to pay for public amenities.
We have had private housing estates controlled by the property owners for many years but the fleecehold practice has expanded massively in the last two decades as local authorities saw it as a way to avoid the costs that would normally fall under council tax and then developers saw it as yet another way of adding to their profits
The law commission concluded the way to address the control of fleecehold sites was by the development of the leasehold RTM law that could be applied to both leasehold and freehold estates.
The CMA more recent report that calls into question whether these “freecehold” costs should exist and raises another set of issues for the government to address. The latest government statement says “We intend to consult publicly on the best way to bring the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private estates and unfair costs to an end” Whether ending injustice means not having new and existing sites defined as private estates in the future or just allowing those living in these sites to better control their costs is not yet clear.
Graeme,
One of my relatives recently down sized to a Freehold property only to discover that she has to pay some imposed Fleeceholder to carry out what should be simple inexpensive jobs such as cutting the grass on road verges, etc.
The annual fee for carrying out that simple work has sky rocketed in recent years. The Fleeceholder is not accountable to anyone.
Because she is an alleged Freeholder she does not have any redress of grievance, in basic terms she cannot challenge those astronomical cost increases.
Going forward, the Government have pledged to build 1,500,000 homes which is commendable.
A note of caution though, If those homes are sold as Leasehold – Fleecehold the Government will be directly responible and accountable for another Millenium of Leasehold – Fleecehold feudal servitude and tenure on its Citizens in my view.
Are the Government insane enough to inflict that on their electorate? Time will tell, the clock is ticking!!!
Martin, Many thanks for the detailed clarification on Fleecehold. I learned a lot from from the detail that you kindly provided.