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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on proposals to (a) protect and (b) improve the rights of leaseholders in England and Wales.

The Government is committed to reforming the leasehold system to ensure fairness and transparency for leaseholders. Last year, we consulted on implementing the ban on new leasehold houses and restricting ground rents on future leases to zero financial value, and will provide a government response in due course.

We are working with the Law Commission, who are taking forward a programme of work and recently consulted on:

• making buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, quicker and more cost effective;
• reinvigorating commonhold, so that it is a viable alternative to leasehold; and
• making it easier for leaseholders to exercise the Right to Manage, and take control of their blocks.

The Law Commission are now analysing responses and will report back to the Government with recommendations later this year.

In addition, the Government has established a working group chaired by Lord Best to raise standards across the property management sector. This group will consider the transparency of service charges, and how they should be presented to consumers, and the best means for challenging unjustified fees. The group is instructed to report back in 2019 and the Government will consider its recommendations. We are also ensuring all landlord freeholders belong to a redress scheme and giving freeholders on private or mixed use estates equivalent rights to leaseholders to challenge communal costs.

The Government recently announced an industry led Pledge so that leaseholders with 10 or 15 year doubling ground rents can have their lease terms amended voluntarily. We have also said that we will be clamping down on unjustified legal costs for leaseholders, we will implement the majority of the Law Commission's recommendations on 'event fees' in the retirement sector.