Residential Estate Management Companies

Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I commend the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for securing and leading this important debate. Many Members are aware of the efforts to change the law and raise the profile of the fleecehold campaign by the Home Owners Rights Network. HORNET has revealed that 960 sites across the UK are affected by this practice, with a staggering 213,000 homeowners affected.

I want to touch on the fantastic local work being done in my constituency of Bridlington and The Wolds. I pay particular tribute to the great work being carried out by the Wolds View action group, which is based on the Bellway estate in Driffield in my constituency, led by Dr Jenny Shaw and the residents of the Wolds View estate. Another affected development, the Mortimer Park estate, which is also in Driffield and was developed by Barratt Homes, consists of 165 properties, with another 120 being built. Those are just two local examples I am aware of, but there are others in my constituency in Market Weighton, Hornsea and Bridlington.

To echo the stories we have heard in this debate, many residents feel that they were not told adequately at the time of purchase about what was to come in terms of estate management. Many feel they face the double whammy of estate management costs and their council tax payments. Further to what the Minister has set out in the House in recent months, I urge him to adopt the Competition and Markets Authority’s 2024 recommendations as a matter of urgency to ensure common adoptable standards, and to mandate the adoption of public amenities on new housing estates.

However, we must not leave existing homeowners in limbo. Residents such as my constituents at Wolds View and Mortimer Park deserve equal protection. I would appreciate the Minister clarifying in his closing remarks what specific protections will be extended to the 200,000 homeowners currently affected. Let us be clear: they are freehold residents who own their own homes. The language used by the Government when discussing this issue has been, on occasion, particularly disappointing, and needs to be clearer when separating the issues of freehold and leasehold. My constituents are not leaseholders in this instance, and it would reassure them if the Minister would outline how the Government intend to address this specific area.

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise these concerns on behalf of my constituents. It is not a local problem; it is a national issue that needs swift and decisive action from this Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts

Monday 3rd March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook]

I well recognise the problem. As the hon. Gentleman will probably know, historically ground rents were nominal sums—often peppercorn sums—but over the past 20 years we have seen a very different system develop. We have made a commitment, which we will honour, to take action on unregulated and unaffordable ground rents through legislation, and we will provide further details in due course.

[Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)]

6. What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on levels of non-domestic rates for pubs.

[The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)]

Given the importance of business rates to both local government finance and local communities, and particularly to our high streets, our two Departments engage regularly on these matters. Pubs are eligible for the retail, hospitality and leisure relief scheme, and in the 2025-26 financial year pubs will benefit from a 40% relief on their bills, up to a cash cap of £110,000. For 2026-27, the Government intend to introduce a permanently lower rate for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, including pubs. Those rates will be set by the Chancellor in the 2025 autumn statement.

[Charlie Dewhirst]

The highest pub in the Yorkshire wolds, the Wolds Inn at Huggate, is a great success story—Mr Speaker, I would be delighted to buy you a pint there the next time you find yourself on the right side of the Pennines—but, like many pubs in my constituency, it faces a crippling rise in non-domestic rates at a time when margins are very tight. Local pubs are not just businesses but much-loved community assets, so will the Minister reverse this tax grab and start supporting the great British local?

[Mr Speaker]

If I return as a missionary, I will bear that in mind.

Oral Answers to Questions

Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook]

In addition to the measures I have set out, we intend to proceed with implementing the service charge transparency provisions of the 2024 Act so that residents in all tenures can more easily challenge unreasonable increases. I think complaints about not-for-profit freeholders can be made to the housing ombudsman. I am more than happy to hear more from the hon. Gentleman about the particular circumstances of this case and give him further advice.

[Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for his reassurance to leaseholders, but what message does he have for freeholders, such as the residents of the Wolds View development in Driffield, who are trapped at the mercy of an unaccountable management company? Will he legislate to protect not just future homeowners but those currently stuck in these contracts?

[Matthew Pennycook]

We are determined to end the injustice of fleecehold entirely, and we will consult next year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of such arrangements. We remain committed to protecting residential freeholders on existing estates from unfair charges. Similar to my previous answers, we need to implement the 2024 Act’s new consumer protection provisions and bring those measures into force as quickly as possible. That is our intention.