Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to Written Statement of 21 December 2017 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS384, what progress he has made on the actions outlined in that Statement; and whether a review of estate charges will be part of this work.

The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for leaseholders and freeholders.

The written statement on 21 December 2017 (HCWS384) set out a package of measures to crack down on unfair leasehold practices. This includes introducing legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows to prohibit the development of new build leasehold houses, other than in exceptional circumstances; restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn; and working with the Law Commission to support existing leaseholders, including making buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, faster, fairer and cheaper and reinvigorating commonhold to provide greater choice for consumers.

As part of bringing forward legislation we have been, and will continue to, work with stakeholders from across the sector to ensure the best outcomes for consumers as well as considering the case for exemptions to prevent adverse impacts upon new much needed supply. The Law Commission has commenced work on enfranchisement and commonhold reform, including launching an 8 week commonhold call for evidence on 22 February.

On 1 April, the Government published its response to the recent call for evidence, Protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market. This sets out proposals for a new regulatory approach for letting and managing agents. We will establish a Working Group to take forward this work and will also ask the Working Group to look at fees and charges affecting both leaseholders and freeholders and consider under what circumstances they are justified and if they should be capped or banned.