Landlord and Tenant Acts

Baroness Gardner of Parkes Excerpts

Tuesday 29th July 2014 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Gardner of Parkes]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to amend the Landlord and Tenant Acts to require landlords actively to notify tenants of changes to service charges, insurance premiums and insurance excesses.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)]

My Lords, information about service charges and insurance is already available to tenants should they wish to exercise their rights to obtain it. The codes of practice approved by the Secretary of State also require that tenants are consulted about service charge budgets for the coming year, and the redress schemes coming into force this year must have regard to the breaches of the code. The Government have no current plans to amend landlord and tenant legislation.

[Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Con)]

I thank the Minister for that reply. I declare a direct, personal interest in respect of my own insurance for the block of flats that I am in, which has always had an excess charge of £250. When I had cause to make a claim recently, I was told that it had gone up to £2,500, which is a tenfold increase, and I was also told that that had happened three years before, although no one in the block had received any word of it. How many other people does the Minister think might be in similar positions, with important decisions being made without tenants or leaseholders having any idea that this is going on?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, first, I draw attention to my leasehold interests in the register. In terms of information being shared with leaseholders, the Government agree that leaseholders should be made aware of any changes to service charge costs and the costs of insurance that they are required to contribute to. Moreover, they should be consulted about qualifying works and long-term agreements that exist.

My noble friend points to the issue of transparency, which of course is key. The statutory consultation requirements in Section 20 require that landlords disclose any connections when entering into long-term agreements over 12 months.

Finally, it is important for all leaseholders to make sure that their existing rights are protected. They can get free initial advice from the Leasehold Advisory Service.