Leasehold Reform

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts
Thursday 23rd March 2023

(1 year, 2 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Anderson of Swansea Portrait Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)
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My Lords, the only potential benefit I can see is inserting restrictions on non-conforming developments, which the leasehold system provides. It is a good start to call the system outdated and feudal, but can non-conforming developments be prevented by other means, such as the planning system?

Baroness Scott of Bybrook Portrait Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)
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The planning system will have to be looked into, but I can say that, interestingly, through the recent rent Act, new builds are now no longer or are very rarely leasehold—they are now freehold—so the developers themselves are looking at this. It is more complex in flats and with multiple occupancy, but in terms of houses very few leasehold properties are available.