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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government's proposals to reform the rules on charges levied on freehold home owners for maintenance of (a) related roads and (b) facilities will apply to existing arrangements for that maintenance.

The Government has committed to ensuring that freehold home owners who pay charges for the maintenance of communal areas and facilities on a private or mixed tenure estate can access equivalent rights as leaseholders to challenge their reasonableness.

We intend to create a new statutory regime, to cover both existing and future freeholders, based on the leaseholder rights contained in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This will ensure maintenance charges must be reasonably incurred and services provided are of an acceptable standard. We will provide freeholders with the ability to challenge the reasonableness of the charges they are required to pay towards the maintenance of communal areas and facilities at the First-tier Tribunal. We are also considering whether freeholders should have a right to change the provider of maintenance services by applying to the tribunal for the appointment of a new manager. We will bring forward legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows.