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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps is he taking to support homeowners who can’t get in contact with their leaseholder.

Leaseholders experiencing issues with absent freeholders can access free advice from the government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service.

Through the measures in the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, the government is seeking to reinvigorate commonhold. Commonhold is a modern homeownership structure that does not involve third party ownership and will thereby resolve the challenges associated with absent freeholders. Instead, homeowners will be members of a commonhold association and will enjoy the ability to engage directly with commonhold association directors.