Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to cap ground rents for leasehold properties.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 99005 on 5 January 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to commence secondary legislation for the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government has already made significant progress when it comes to commencing provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024:

• On 24 July 2024, we brought into force provisions relating to rentcharge arrears, building safety legal costs and the work of professional insolvency practitioners.
• On 31 October 2024, we brought into force further building safety measures.
• On 31 January 2025, we commenced provisions to remove the two-year qualifying rule in relation to enfranchisement and lease extensions.
• On 3 March 2025, the right to manage provisions (expanding access, reforming its costs, and voting rights) came into force.

The government recognises the considerable financial strain that rising service charges place on leaseholders and tenants. The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building. By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Overcharging through service charges is completely unacceptable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.

On 4 July 2025, the government published a consultation, jointly with the Welsh Government, on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services. The consultation included proposals to increase transparency over service charges and enhance access to redress through the relevant provisions in the Act. It also proposed new reforms the section 20 ‘major works’ procedure. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here. It closed on 26 September 2025, and we are analysing responses with a view to bringing the relevant measures into force as quickly as possible.

On 18 December 2025, the government launched a consultation on proposals to implement the Act’s new consumer protections for homeowners living on freehold estates. These include ensuring that homeowners who pay an estate management charge have better access to information they need to understand what they are paying for, the right to challenge the reasonableness at the First-tier Tribunal (in England), and to go to the tribunal to appoint a substitute manager. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 12 March 2026. We will look to bring these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter.

The Act also sets the method for calculating the price of a statutory lease extension or freehold acquisition, known as the valuation process. It removes the requirement for marriage value to be paid, caps the treatment of ground rents in the valuation calculation at 0.1% of the freehold value, and allows government to prescribe the rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium. Valuation rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium will be set by the Secretary of State in secondary legislation. We will consult on valuation rates and commence the relevant provisions as soon as possible. As per my Written Ministerial Statement of 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), primary legislation will be required to rectify a small number of specific flaws in the 2024 Act before the Act’s enfranchisement provisions are commenced.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made on publishing the draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 102833 on 12 January 2026.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has to establish a public health task force to review the incorporation of public health better into the legislative framework for water.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Independent Water Commission was tasked with producing recommendations to fundamentally transform how our water system works and delivered its final report on 21 July 2025.

The Government is considering recommendations, including those on public health to ensure environmental improvement and public health risks are better managed in the water system.

The Government will respond in full via a White Paper, and a new water reform bill will be introduced during this Parliament.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recourse to action patients who have had scheduled operations cancelled by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, citing funding pauses, have in order to secure the surgeries they need at the earliest opportunity.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to putting patients first by ensuring that they are seen on time and that they have the best possible experience of care. Since this Government came into office, the waiting list for routine appointments, operations and procedures in England has been cut by 225,852. This is despite 28.4 million referrals onto the waiting list.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have existing contractual powers to manage activity by providers, which were enhanced in 2025/26 with central support for setting and managing activity. Commissioners’ use of these powers support systems to live within their means and to deploy better financial discipline than previous years where systems have overspent.

We expect use of activity management provisions by local systems to support efforts in achieving the goal of at least 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment by March 2026 whilst living within financial budgets set for 2025/26.

All trusts are expected to have their own safeguards to ensure that patients waiting for planned care are triaged, and that appointments take place according to clinical priority and the length of time patients have waited, avoiding risk of serious complications. Patients have the right to request their local ICB find an alternative provider when they have been waiting, or expect to wait, over 18 weeks to begin treatment for consultant-led care.

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