Housing: Older People

(asked on 14th September 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing the Law Commission’s recommendations on the regulation of event fees in retirement properties.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 20th September 2021

In 2017, the Law Commission published a report of their review of event fees on behalf of this Department. This followed concerns raised by the Competition and Markets Authority about the fairness of some retirement property leases that have resulted in leaseholders paying an event fee of between 0.25% and 30% of the sale price of the property when selling or sub-letting. Concerns were also raised about the lack of transparency of event fees for older people and their families when purchasing a leasehold retirement property. The Law Commission made a number of recommendations in its report, which can be downloaded at http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/event-fees-in-retirement-properties.

The Government responded to the Law Commission, thanking them for the report and agreeing to implement the majority of the recommendations.

This includes a new statutory code of practice which will ensure that these fees cannot be charged unexpectedly, while fees that breach it will be regarded as unenforceable and developers and estate agents will be required to make all such fees crystal clear to people before they buy, so prospective buyers can make an informed decision before forming a financial or emotional attachment to a property.

The Government is considering two further recommendations, on succession rights and a database of leasehold retirement properties with event fees, and will respond.

Reticulating Splines