Huw Merriman
Main Page: Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Mr Betts
We need something simple, and the Law Commission has been asked to consider that issue because something as simple as a multiple of ground rent might not be fair. The freeholders who would get the biggest benefit from a multiple of ground rent will be those who made the largest ground rent charges, and it would be perverse if those who behaved the worst were to benefit in that way. We want the Law Commission’s report as quickly as possible and a formula that is as simple as possible but also fair.
Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)
I, too, thank the Select Committee for its report, which is long overdue. My constituency has a particular issue with elderly constituents who have moved into blocks for independent living and found that their assets have depreciated hugely. They are not being managed or looked after, but the service charges keep going up, and people cannot afford to leave. They are trapped. Something needs to be done to help those vulnerable constituents, and it seems to me that we need to open up the market for management service companies. Did the Committee consider whether it would be possible to allow leaseholders to set up their own community interest company and take on those responsibilities? Leaseholders would not rip themselves off in the way that they are currently ripped off by some of these unscrupulous companies.
Mr Betts
There are circumstances where leaseholders can do that—ultimately, they could move to a form of commonhold, although that requires substantial agreement among themselves, and many elderly leaseholders might not want to go down that road without lots of explanation and help. One of our concerns was that there is not much help or publicity about that process, and that issue could be looked at. Service charges are often terribly opaque, and proper information is not provided. The right to challenge is not explained, and challenge through a tribunal is difficult. Another thing that would help is a simpler housing court system, which we hear the Government are going to introduce. The quicker they do that, the better.