Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a (a) single mandatory redress and (b) ombudsman scheme for freeholders on private estates who want to challenge management charges.

The government remains committed to protecting residential freeholders on private and mixed-tenure housing estates from unfair charges.

We will consult this year on implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act's consumer protection provisions for the up to 1.75 million homes that are subject to these charges, and bring these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter. These include ensuring that homeowners who pay an estate management charge have better access to information they need to understand what they are paying for, the right to challenge the reasonableness of such charges at the First-tier Tribunal (in England), and to go to the tribunal to appoint a substitute manager.

The government is also determined to end the injustice of 'fleecehold' entirely and we will consult this year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.

Managing agents play a key role in the maintenance of freehold estates.

On 4 July, the government published a consultation on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services. It can be found on gov.uk here. The consultation includes proposals to strengthen the regulation of managing agents.