Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recourse to complaint freeholders have who pay into a common management scheme that is badly managed.

Freeholders have recourse to a number of procedures to help settle a complaint. An initial complaint can be made through their common management scheme's complaints procedure. If necessary, complaints can be escalated through one of the following ombudsman schemes: Ombudsman Services: Property, Property Redress Scheme, and The Property Ombudsman. Ultimately, a complaint can be settled through the courts.

As part of the response to the consultation 'Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market' the Government committed to legislate to ensure that freeholders who pay charges for the maintenance of communal areas and facilities on a private or mixed use estate can access equivalent rights as leaseholders to challenge their reasonableness. We will bring forward the necessary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.