Commonhold and Leasehold Reform: Managing Agents

Judith Cummins Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

Before we come to the debate on commonhold and leasehold reform, I inform that House that permission to appeal has been granted following the judgment on the judicial review brought forward by ARC Time Freehold Income Authorised Fund and others over the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. The case is therefore sub judice. Mr Speaker has granted a waiver to allow Members to discuss fully the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee report on the implications of the Government’s draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. I call Florence Eshalomi, who will speak for up to 15 minutes.

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[James Asser (West Ham and Beckton) (Lab)]

I am dealing with huge numbers of groups of leaseholders, and one of the things we have discovered—with the managing agent very much as my hon. Friend is describing —is this habit of subcontracting, only for the leaseholders to find that the subcontractors are owned by the same company; the name has just been changed. When we raised this point, the answer we got from FirstPort last week was, “We can do what we want.” Does that not reinforce my hon. Friend’s argument about regulation?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

Before the hon. Lady rises, I remind Members that this is a very oversubscribed debate, and I am sure that many people want to speak.

[Florence Eshalomi]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and wish him a happy birthday—I am sure a good birthday present for him would be the regulation of managing agents for the sake of his constituents. Self-regulation does not work when there is no real enforcement, and leaseholders were clear with us that they do not just want mandatory qualifications. As Lord Best put it in his evidence to the Committee,

“being qualified doesn’t necessarily make people behave properly; you still need a code of practice and enforcement”.

What we need is a regulator with teeth—one that will issue meaningful sanctions against agents that treat homeowners like a revenue stream. For the worst offenders, that should include the removal of their licence to operate.

I should acknowledge that our inquiry heard from some campaigners who were concerned that regulation could add to the costs passed on to leaseholders via service charges. On balance, though, we think that regulation is now necessary to protect all leaseholders from rogue managing agents. The reality is that some leaseholders will not be able to convert to commonhold—some blocks will not be able to meet the 50% threshold to convert, and some blocks will have special features that mean they are not eligible. We cannot leave those homeowners behind.

Ultimately, commonhold is a vast improvement, but it will not always be as simple as hiring and firing agents. Commonholds are likely to appoint managing agents on contracts that last for several years, and they need to have confidence that they are appointing high-quality service providers. An independent code of practice would provide that assurance, so overall we think it would be a valuable addition to the final Bill—one that would benefit homeowners. Homeowners want a crackdown on poorly performing agents like FirstPort, with a regulator that has teeth and can deliver.

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[Florence Eshalomi]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the important issue of marriage value and the extension of leases, with many people having to take out additional loans just to remortgage and extend their lease. All these areas are covered in the draft Bill, and I know the Minister is keen to address them.

The Bill will be an opportunity to impact the lives of millions of constituents across England and Wales who bought their homes in good faith. We must all take responsibility for keeping this topic on the agenda and ensuring that the final Bill comes back to this Chamber in the autumn to make progress through Parliament—we cannot allow this issue to be swept away by events that are happening outside this place or that are beyond our control.

Our Committee’s report sets out the blueprint for the changes needed to make the Bill a bolder, more ambitious piece of legislation. With an independent regulator, we can ensure that all homeowners see a real change in the short term. I therefore urge Members across the House to support today’s motion; leaseholders’ expectations have been set very high, so it is vital that we get the reforms right. If we do so, this will be the Parliament that finally allows leaseholders to realise their dream of home ownership, making them true homeowners with the control they have been promised.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

We will start with an immediate four-minute time limit.