Responsibilities of Housing Developers

Clive Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for securing this very important debate. Natalie Harrison lives in my constituency of Wokingham and, along with other leaseholders in Mulberry House, faces constant challenges due to the failure of her former managing agent, Eagerstates, and its associated company, Assethold. I recognise that neither of those companies is a housing developer, but the situation faced by my constituents could very well apply to properties leased by a housing developer, so I hope it is treated with the same principle. Natalie tells me that Eagerstates’ two-year tenure as managing agent of Mulberry House has turned the leaseholders’ lives into a living hell. It increased the service charge by 48% in its first year of management and by over 200% in its second. After the leaseholders secured a successful right to manage application, Eagerstates continued to bill residents over £16,000 despite no longer being appointed.

Another constituent is in a top-floor apartment in the same property and is now forced to live in damp conditions surrounded by mould due to the poor quality of the roof. The roof, which was fully replaced six years ago, carried a 30-year warranty that is no longer covered, due to a failure by Eagerstates to commission a once-yearly inspection. Eagerstates has left the property in a shocking state of repair, forcing residents to pay an additional £29,000 between 12 flats for roof repairs and £45,900 for a completely new lift. My constituents feel that they are being robbed and left completely unprotected by a system that is seemingly unable to protect people who are being ripped off by companies that have the money to intimidate them.

Can the Minister tell me, Natalie and the residents of Mulberry House what plans the Department has to get the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 fast-tracked as quickly as possible? People need action to protect their livelihoods. They would also be grateful to know how the Government’s plans will stop the abuses by Eagerstates that they are facing from happening now and in the future. Will the Government ensure that undue power is taken from housing developers? Finally, will the Minister investigate the cases I have talked about and provide me with a written response that I can pass on to those affected?

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Jones Excerpts

Monday 2nd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rushanara Ali]

My hon. Friend raises really important issues about how multiple underlying causes can drive people into homelessness. We are determined to tackle the root causes, which is why the Deputy Prime Minister is chairing the inter-departmental taskforce on homelessness and rough sleeping. The previous Labour Government took action, and cut homelessness and rough sleeping. We are determined to ensure that we tackle the underlying issues, which means reforming the supported housing that victims of domestic violence need and ensuring that local government works with mayors and national Government to tackle these issues. We are absolutely committed to doing that.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

Wokingham borough council is under intense financial pressure, making the crucial task of reducing homelessness a significant challenge. Initial estimates are that the Budget’s new funding for local government will be more than swallowed up by cost increases in employers’ national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage, let alone the ever-growing demand for statutory services. Will the Minister meet me and the leader and chief executive of our council, so we can discuss the future of its finances and what we can do to reduce homelessness?

[Rushanara Ali]

I am aware that the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon), has already met the hon. Gentleman, but I am happy to look at the specific issues he raises in relation to homelessness. To reassure him, we are working across Government on these very issues, looking at how different agendas can be brought together to tackle the deep-rooted issues affecting homelessness and rough sleeping, and how best we can support local areas. I look forward to engaging Members from across the House as we develop that very important cross-departmental strategy to tackle the deep-rooted causes of homelessness and rough sleeping.

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Jones Excerpts

Monday 2nd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Alison Bennett (Mid Sussex) (LD)]

10. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of council funding.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

15. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of council funding.

[Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)]

16. What steps she is taking with local authorities to help ensure that they have adequate resources to fund local services.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jim McMahon]

The English devolution Bill is a landmark piece of legislation that will finally address the imbalance of power between this place and communities up and down the country, but it is not in itself the answer. We know that the financial foundations on which it rests are local authorities, which are struggling. That is why we are committed to multi-year funding settlements and fair funding.

[Clive Jones]

I understand that there will be a major review of local government funding next year. I represent Wokingham, whose council is the lowest-funded unitary authority per head in the country. Will the review look at the actual needs and costs faced by local authorities, as opposed to the current methodology of allocating funding, which is based on historical data and is disproportionately skewed by simplistic measures of deprivation?

[Jim McMahon]

Any fair funding formula of course has to address the range of challenges that local authorities face, whether that is their local tax base, and how much they can realistically generate from their local communities and businesses, or the cost of service delivery and the demand within a local community. We will ensure that the fair funding formula, of which multi-year settlements are a part, is done with that rigour.