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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by the Law Commission entitled Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease published in July 2020.

In 2017, the Government asked the Law Commission to review the legislation on leasehold enfranchisement. Following extensive consultation, the Commission reported back to Government in July 2020.

On 7 Jan 2021, Government announced measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, with significant discounts for those trapped with onerous ground rents.

On 11 January 2022, the Government launched a consultation on a number of recommendations made by the Law Commission aimed at broadening the rights of leaseholders, and reinvigorating commonhold. The consultation closed on 22 February 2022 and we received over 2000 responses. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.

As part of our programme of reform for the leasehold system, my ministerial colleagues and I have met with a range of parliamentarians from both Houses as well as representatives of both leaseholders and freeholders, and we will continue to do so.

We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.