Leasehold and Commonhold Reform

Debate between Anne Marie Morris and Peter Bottomley

Thursday 21st December 2017 Westminster Hall

[Sir Peter Bottomley]

That matches the problems of some park home owners. If I had the time, I would get into the activities of Barry Weir, the Smart family and various others who have ruined people’s lives.

On solving the doubling of ground rents for residential properties, whether houses or flats, it is quite clear that there are three approaches that will work. The first is trying to deal with the problem with the first buyers. I congratulate Taylor Wimpey and Countryside on trying that, and pay tribute to them and their shareholders for making that decision. The Minister will write to the other companies to ask what they will be doing. I am grateful for that. However, that does not solve the problems for the second-hand buyers.

The second is changing the unfair terms, which are in either leasehold or some freehold contracts, where people cannot make changes without getting permission, which can be expensive. That is added to by the problem that, when a leaseholder or interested resident tries to challenge something, the property tribunals have not always worked properly.

The cost of a leasehold valuation tribunal was supposed to be limited to £500. However, as Mr Dennis Jackson discovered, he was about to lose £600,000 of equity after he and another elderly leaseholder challenged some costs. They were awarded three quarters of their claim, but then the costs went out of control. His home was going to have to be forfeited, and the surplus after the costs were paid would not go to him or his mortgage company—it would have gone into the hands of the freeholder. That cannot be right, and it has to change. The law on forfeiture is another thing I hope the Minister will be able to tell us about, either today or next year.

[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

Will the Minister consider the particular problem of leasehold in shared ownership? There, when you want to extend, you do not even have recourse to the courts, as there is no reference to it in the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. It is very serious that, with co-owners, you can effectively be treated as a tenant, with few rights and little opportunity to sell on. Even if you think you own 50% of the property, you will pay the full charge—including all the maintenance costs and any valuation fee if you purchase any more. It is a dreadful position to be in, yet it has been seen as a way of encouraging those with very little to start on the housing ladder.

[Sir Peter Bottomley]

My hon. Friend makes a point that shows the truth of what I said at the beginning: the Government’s announcement today has gone further than people expected, but it does not cover everything. There needs to be a forum in which the Government can actually listen to the voices of those who represent the unfortunate ones who are caught in a trap and find ways of solving that.

By the way, that if someone is to talk about me and uses “you”, may I ask them please use it in the plural sense? The hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick) and others have given help over the years as well. We have to make this a “we” thing that is cross party and effective.