Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)]

10. What steps he plans to take to reform the leasehold system.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

18. What steps he is taking to strengthen the rights of leaseholders.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

Leasehold and commonhold reform are key priorities for this Government, and we remain absolutely determined to honour the commitments made in our manifesto and finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end in this Parliament. We have already brought into force a range of provisions from the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, and we will progress the required secondary legislation to commence many more this year. We also intend to publish an ambitious draft commonhold and leasehold reform Bill in the coming weeks.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matthew Pennycook]

The case that my hon. Friend draws the House’s attention to highlights the unfair charges that so many residential freeholders are subject to. As well as acting to reduce the prevalence of privately managed estates, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by residential freeholders, we are committed to implementing new consumer protections for homeowners on freehold estates. The consultation launched before Christmas seeks views on how, not whether, we implement the relevant provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. I know that my hon. Friend will ensure that her constituents are supported in sharing their views on the subject as part of that exercise.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage]

So many of my Gosport constituents are locked into lousy leaseholds, and are so tired of seeing service charges rise while the quality of service falls. Bills are often eye-watering, and are quite often completely opaque. As the Minister said, the Conservatives passed the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, which gave leaseholders more powers to better scrutinise and challenge those costs. However, on the Minister’s watch, implementation is painfully slow. Why the delay? When will leaseholders begin to see the benefits of legislation that was designed to put an end to a practice that he himself has described as “unfair and unreasonable”?

[Matthew Pennycook]

I fully appreciate the wish of leaseholders in the hon. Lady’s constituency and those across the country to see these reforms introduced. She is absolutely right that the 2024 Act included measures to enhance transparency around service charges, to make it easier for leaseholders to challenge unreasonable service charge increases. Last July, we consulted on how to introduce those measures. It is a very technical consultation and quite a lengthy document—I draw the hon. Lady’s attention to it. We will introduce the necessary secondary legislation this year, so that leaseholders can benefit from those provisions.